Station Review #91: Norristown - Main Street (SEPTA)

Norristown - Main Street is a station on SEPTA's Manayunk-Norristown line. The station is located on Main and Markley Streets in downtown Norristown. 

History

Norristown-Main Street was originally built by the North Penn Railroad in 1872 as part of their Stony Creek Railroad branch. This was a railway line that linked the North Penn Railroad main line to Norristown at Lansdale. This station was their Norristown station. Seven years after completion, the NPRR was bought out by the Reading Railroad. Immediately afterwards, a link was created between Norristown Main Street station and the new Reading main line at Norristown, completed in 1882. The station depot shown above most likely was built sometime around the turn of the 20th century, since it looks similar to other Reading Railroad stations of this era. 

In 1912 when the Lehigh Valley Transit Company's Liberty Bell Line also started stopping at the station. This was an interurban that went between 69th Street Transportation Center and Allentown. At its peak, one could use Norristown-Main Street station to get to these locations: Allentown, Bethlehem, Boyertown, Chestnut Hill, Conshohocken, Doylestown, Harleysville, Lansdale, Pottstown, Reading, Swedeland, Upper Darby (69th Street TC), and Wissahickon.

By 1951, the last Liberty Bell Line trolley stopped running. By this time, the other trolleys in the area also stopped running. This basically spelled the end for the former station depot, and the station we know and heavily dislike today was built to replace it in the 1960s. To make things worse, passenger trains stopped running along the Stony Creek Branch past Elm Street sometime around the 1970s. Since this point, Main Street station has been continually declining with no end in sight. 

Tour

That is the entire station. I am being completely serious. Everything is in that photo. There is a shelter, platform, single track, parking lot, and fence. There is nothing else to this station.

Also, in order to get to the station from Markley Street you need to go around the fence to Main street, and then back around. 

And this photo too.

The shelter

I wish words could more adequately describe how much I dislike this station. However, this would require there to be more to the station itself.

Inside the shelter
 
Inside the shelter there is a hostile bench. It's interesting how the "armrests" here are all uneven, I'm surprised nobody's tried to fix that yet. 

Map and schedule

View

And when you sit down at the bench here, this is what you see. Isn't this a beautiful view?

Parking lot

The parking lot has exactly 92 spaces according to SEPTA. 

Silverliner IV at Norristown-Main Street

And of course, nobody should forget the completely inaccessible platforms. At this point though, should anyone even be surprised?

Bus Connections



There are a few bus connections at Norristown-Main Street, these include:

• 90: Plymouth Meeting Mall to Norristown Transportation Center via East Norriton
• 93: Pottstown to Norristown Transportation Center
• 131: Audubon to Norristown Transportation Center
 
Until 2020, there was one more bus connection: the 91, which went from Graterford Prison to Norristown Transportation Center. 
 
Note how all of these buses go to Norristown Transportation Center. This is because Norristown Transportation Center is the better place to go for if you want to connect to a bus. 

Points of Interest near Norristown-Main Street Station


Nearby this station is Norristown's Main Street. Everything one could see from that one could see from Norristown Transportation Center. In order to get anywhere else in downtown Norristown one must cross Markley Street, which is an ordeal in and of itself. And while the restaurants along Marshall Street are closer to Norristown-Main Street than they are Norristown Transportation Center itself, they are still closer to Norristown-Elm Street. There is little to no reason to use this station at all.

Statistics


Name: Norristown-Main Street
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): Manayunk-Norristown Line
Locality: West End
Municipality: Norristown
County: Montgomery
State: Pennsylvania
Ridership: 375 per average weekday (2017)

Amenity Checklist

Accessibility: ×
Bicycle parking: ×
Clean: ×
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage to either side: ×
Fare Payment Kiosks: ✓
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Lighting: ×
Maps: ✓
Near places people are: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Seating: ✓
Station in Good Condition: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info: ×
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 1/10. There's not much of any reason for this station to still exist besides extra parking, which isn't even needed.
 

Station Directory


--------Philadelphia County--------

''''''''Center City Zone''''''''

Penn Medicine

30th Street

Suburban

Jefferson (Market East)

Temple University 

''''''''Zone 1''''''''

North Broad

Allegheny (MNL) 

East Falls

''''''''Zone 2''''''''

Wissahickon

Manayunk

Ivy Ridge

--------Montgomery County--------

Miquon

''''''''Zone 3''''''''

Spring Mill

Conshohocken

Norristown Transportation Center

Norristown-Main Street

Norristown-Elm Street

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