Station Review #78: Cornwells Heights (Amtrak/SEPTA)


Cornwells Heights (pronounced and often misspelled as "Cornwell Heights") is a train station along the Northeast Corridor. The station is located at 700 Station Avenue in Cornwells Heights, PA, a CDP located within Bensalem, PA. 

The station is mainly served by SEPTA's Trenton line. Despite this, three trips of Amtrak's Keystone Service stop at the station every day: 640 (7:02 AM), 649 (3:51 PM), and 655 (7:40 PM). Cornwells Heights is currently the least used Amtrak station in the state of Pennsylvania. 

From Station Avenue to the edge of the park and ride, this station is about half a mile long. 

History

Despite how it is today, Cornwells Heights was not nearly as important as it is now for much of its existence. The first known iteration of Cornwells Heights station was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1891. It's unknown if there was any iteration of the station from before that year, and was only rebuilt by the PRR or not. This is despite the line itself having existed for decades prior. 

The original station lasted for possibly up to six decades before being demolished by the PRR, most likely due to one (or both) of these two things: the construction of I-95 or budget cuts. To replace it, the Pennsylvania Railroad did what it did best: build some wooden sheds along the line, painted them green, and called it a day. 

Not long after I-95 was built, an exit was built for a new park and ride built at Cornwells Heights station. This coupled with the new construction and development of much of Bensalem meant that the station ridership suddenly was boosted. Cornwells Heights is one of the first successful Park and Ride train stations in the US. 
 
In the 1990s, the station was rebuilt with new shelters and mini-high platforms. Not long after that in 1997, Amtrak started serving the station with their Keystone Service train. A new building was built for the station as well. The old trailer and platforms still remain at the station. 


Tour


Besides Amtrak service, Cornwells Heights is otherwise a pretty average station in the SEPTA network. 

The southbound shelter

The wooden station depot

This floor is made of floor! 

There's not much in the station depot. This station depot on the inside is essentially a small rectangular room. It has a bathroom and water fountain, as well as multiple green benches and at least one Amtrak poster that looks like it came out of the early 2000s. There is also a SEPTA fare office here. 

Sidewalk path to the entrance 

Inside one of the shelters

The track

Not shown here is the northbound platform, it's more of the same. There are plans to make these into high level platforms that are currently underway. 

In order to get from one side of the station to the other, you must go through Station Avenue. Considering how long this station is, this is incredibly bad. 

Ramp

The Parking Area


Path to the park and ride

The park and ride

While much of the parking lot is full, the rest is this. This is also where the 78 bus ends.

I-95

If you look in the distance, you will see the I-95 exit for the station. This is most likely why the station gets as much ridership as it does. 

Bus Connections

There are two bus connections at Cornwells Heights, and these are some of the worst bus connections to have in SEPTA. They are:

78 - EXPRESS Center City to Cornwells Heights: This bus entirely goes from Center City Philadelphia to Cornwells Heights via I-95, one way only. It only exists because of the IRS center near Bensalem, and has two trips a day, one at 1:12 AM and one at 2:12 AM. 

133 - Frankford-Knights (City Line Loop) to Bridgewater: This route acts as a feeder bus both to the 66 and the Trenton line, linking people to Andalusia, Cornwells Heights, and various business parks near State Road in Bensalem. This bus usually only operates one way, switching which way it operates sometime around 10:00 AM. In total, the 133 bus only oeprates six trips a day. 

312 - Cornwells Heights Parking Shuttle: This is literally a bus that shuttles people from the park and ride to the platforms. Yes it still runs. The station complex is so large that this is actually needed. 

Points of Interest near Cornwells Heights

There is very little near Cornwells Heights station. That doesn't mean there is absolutely nothing however.

• Saint Katherine Drexel Convent Motherhouse: Abandoned old convent used by Saint Katherine Drexel. 

• Pen Ryn Estate: Historic mansion from 1744, weddings are often held here. This mansion is a remnant of the "old main line". From Tacony to Bristol and everywhere in between were towns or neighborhoods with lots of rich people (and stark inequality). Today this is merely a remnant of the past, and mansions like this one signify what villages like Cornwells Heights once were. 

• Delaware River Access Area: Near the Pen Ryn Estate, this is a small park along the Delaware River. 

• Woodhaven Mall: this used to be an actual indoor mall, but got converted to an outdoor plaza. Among other things there is a decent goodwill (actual fitting rooms!) and AMC theatre here. 

Note that much of this is along Bristol Pike, sidewalks are incredibly limited here.  

Statistics


Name: Cornwells Heights 
Agency: Amtrak, SEPTA
Line(s): Trenton line, Keystone Service 
Locality: Cornwells Heights 
City/Township: Bensalem
County: Bucks
State: PA
Ridership: Amtrak: 1394 total (2022). SEPTA: 2899 per average weekday (2017, most likely much lower today) 

Amenity Checklist


Accessible: ✓
Bathrooms: ✓
Bicycle parking: ✓
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓ (both are terrible though) 
Easy passage for each side: ×
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): ×
Good Wayfinding: × (I have gotten lost here more than once) 
Indoor Shelters: ✓
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: × (unless you're in a car
Adequate Parking: ✓
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
TVMs: ×
Ticket Offices: ✓
TOD: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ×
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 6.5/10

Station Directory

--------PENNSYLVANIA--------
--------Dauphin County--------
Harrisburg (HAR)
Middletown (MID)
--------Lancaster County--------
Elizabethtown (ELT)
Mount Joy (MJY)
Lancaster (LNC)
--------Chester County--------
Parkesburg (PAR)
Coatesville (COT)
Exton (EXT)
Paoli (PAO)
--------Montgomery County--------
West Ardmore (Temporary) (ARD)
Ardmore (ARD)
--------Philadelphia County--------
''''''''Center City Zone''''''''
- - - - TRENTON LINE TRAINS CONTINUE TO TEMPLE UNIVERSITY VIA SUBURBAN AND JEFFERSON STATIONS - - - -
30th Street (PHL)
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
North Philadelphia (PHN)
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Bridesburg
Tacony
Holmesburg Junction
''''''''Zone 3'''''''
Torresdale
--------Bucks County--------
Cornwells Heights (CWH)
Eddington
Croydon
''''''''Zone 4''''''''
Bristol
Levittown
--------NEW JERSEY--------
--------Mercer County--------'
''''''''NJ Zone''''''''
Trenton Transit Center (TRE)
Princeton Junction (PJC)
--------Middlesex County--------
New Brunswick (NBK)
MetroPark (MET)
--------Union County--------
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Newark Pennsylvania (NWK)
--------NEW YORK--------
--------Manhattan Borough--------
New York Penn (NYP)

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