Station Review #73: Glenside (SEPTA)
Glenside is a station serving multiple SEPTA Regional Rail lines, located at Easton Road and Glenside Avenue in Glenside, PA.
History
Glenside station was built in 1873 by the North Pennsylvania Railroad, one of the few original NPRR station houses to remain to this day. Just six years later, the NPRR was bought by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, the predecessor to the Reading Railroad. Glenside station was originally named Abington station, and was renamed sometime later to Glenside.
In 2000, a café opened in the station building called Elcy's Café.
Routes that Serve Glenside Station
There are four Regional Rail routes that go to Glenside station, these are:
Airport Line: These trains go to Center City via the SEPTA Main line, before then going to Philadelphia International Airport. Oftentimes, these are combined with Warminister Line trains.
Glenside Combined Line: These trains usually just go from 30th Street station to Glenside via the SEPTA Main Line. There is a special crossover track at the station for these trains, and for Airport line trains that terminate at Glenside. This means that both services exclusively use the southbound platform.
Lansdale-Doylestown Line: This service goes from Center City all the way to Lansdale and Doylestown. Trains on this line continue heading northwest of Glenside station on what once was the Reading Railroad's Bethlehem line.
Warminister Line: This service goes from Center City to Warminister via the Reading Railroad's old New Hope Branch.
Tour
The station
Glenside station has not changed much in the 141 or so years it has existed.
Those are barely platforms
Some stations have clocks like these
Before you ask, yes the station is completely plastered in ads for Arcadia University, which isn't very far away to the west of the station. It's about a one mile walk between the admissions building and Glenside station, which is pretty doable but still pretty annoying, especially since the section of Easton Road closest to the university doesn't have any sidewalk whatosever. In short, Arcadia University really wants more students.
Café seating
Much of the southbound platform is dedicated to Elcy's Café, including the entire station building. SEPTA has a ticket selling window in the middle of the café. A lot of the seating at the southbound platform is for the café, as well.
Wait, but there's a problem! How do you get to the other platform? There's no crossover in sight! The answer to that is very simple:
You go all the way across the platform to the edge, and then down the staircase at Easton Road, and then take a left (right if you're transferring from northbound to southbound).
When you see some sort of opening like this, go into it and up the staircase.
They don't even clear the grass from the northbound track!
The northbound platform isn't much different from the southbound platform. All there is at the northbound platform is a shelter and the key card validators.
The shelter
Inside the shelter
The map inside the shelter has a lot of interesting graffiti on it. I can't show that map here because it has someone's phone number on it.
Bus Connections
There are two bus connections at Glenside:
22: This bus goes from Olney Transportation Center to Warminister Heights via Easton and York Roads. This bus basically mirrors the Warminister line from Glenside onwards, with the only stops it does not directly connect to being Crestmont (where it is a couple blocks away anyways) and Ardsley.
77: This bus links Chestnut Hill, Wyndmoor, Cheltenham, Glenside, Jenkintown, and multiple Northeast Philadelphia neighborhoods along PA-73. The 77 bus is essentially a suburban bus masquerading as a city bus.
Points of Interest in Glenside
There is a lot in Glenside. Glenside is basically a streetcar suburb, and much like other streetcar suburbs in southeastern PA, Glenside has a thriving commerical district or two. There's also generally a fair bit of density here too, it's actually pretty nice.
Statistics
Name: Glenside
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): Airport, Glenside Combined, Lansdale-Doylestown, Warminister
Locality: Glenside
City/Township: Abington/Cheltenham
County: Montgomery
State: Pennsylvania
Ridership: 2155 per average weekday (2017)
Amenity Checklist
Accessible: ×
Bathrooms: ✓
Bicycle parking: ✓
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ×
Fare payment validators (if applicable): ✓
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Indoor Shelters: ✓
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
Ticket Kiosks (if applicable): ×
Ticket Offices: ✓
TOD: ✓
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ×
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓
Final Verdict: 4/10. 10/10 location, not much more than a 2/10 for everything else. I think 4/10 is a good spot to balance it all out.
Station Directory
--------Montgomery County--------
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
Trains continue from Lansdale, Doylestown, or Warminister
Glenside
Jenkintown - Wyncote
Jenkintown - Wyncote
Trains continue from West Trenton
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Elkins Park
Melrose Park
Trains continue from Fox Chase or Chestnut Hill East
Wayne Junction
Trains continue from Norristown
Trains continue to Cynwyd or Thorndale
Penn Medicine
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