Station Review #181: Elwyn (SEPTA)


Elwyn is a SEPTA station located on Elwyn Road in Elwyn, Pennsylvania, itself located in Middletown Township, in Delaware County. Elwyn Station is located on the Media-Wawa line and is a zone 3 station.  

History

The original Greenwood station
 
 
This station started out as Greenwood station, and was built for the Pennsylvania Training School, a school for children with Intellectual Disability, as well as other developmental disorders. The name was changed in the 1880s to better fit the fact that it was for the school. Considering the fact that the Pennsylvania Training School was named after Dr. Albert L. Elwyn, this seemed to work out well enough. To this day, people going to the Elwyn School (which the school renamed itself to) is a decent chunk of the ridership. 

Of course, the small village of Greenwood ended up renaming itself to Elwyn. Elwyn at this point was still rural, a small village built around the school and the station.  The original station depot was also the house for the ticket attendant, the waiting room a literal room in the house. This status quo stayed the same until somewhere between the 1950s, when the post-war suburban era started taking hold, and the 1970s. The station was rebuilt during this time. 

In 1986, service from West Chester on the West Chester Branch was truncated to Elwyn. Originally it was to be truncated to a station before this at Media, but then quick work was done at the station to be able to terminate trains there, so that people further along the line could still drive to Elwyn. Some trains still terminated at Media. 

In 2022, the line was re-extended to Wawa. The Lenni station between the two was skipped. To this day, a few trains still terminate at Elwyn. 
 

Tour

Train.
Elwyn station has low platforms, which is never a great sign. There also are no tactile strips either.  No, this station isn't very good. 

???
I don't have any clue what this is either.

Platform
There's a lot of basic amenities on this platform: a shelter, map, fare kiosks, etc. 

A closer look at the shelter
I think this is an enclosed section? 

The other platform.
The other platform doesn't even have benches. 

Mini high
Because of the mini highs, this is technically accessible, but this is the most obvious situation of a quick fix for that of any I've seen in a while. 
 

Bike racks

????

Is that... A door? I don't understand why this has doors, and can't really tell if this is an enclosed space or not. 

Parking
Elwyn has way too much parking for its own good. Nearly all of the station's property is parking. 

Bus Connections

There is one bus connection at Elwyn station: 
 
  • 117 - Penn State University to I-95 Industrial Park: This bus runs between Penn State University Brandywine Campus to the I-95 Industrial Park in Chester via Edgmont Avenue/Middletown Road, among other places in between. This runs about once every 30 minutes.   

Points of Interest Near Elwyn Station

There's nothing much here. Nowhere around the station is walkable. There is no transit oriented development. There is a few houses and a lot of trees. Nothing has sidewalks here. 

Statistics


Name: Elwyn
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): Media-Wawa Line
Locality: Elwyn
Municipality: Middletown Township
County: Delaware
State: Pennsylvania
Ridership: 489 riders per average weekday (2024). 

Amenity Checklist


Accessible: ✓*
Bathrooms: ×
Bicycle parking: ✓
Clean Station: ✓
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ✓
Existence is justifiable: ×
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): ✓
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Indoor Shelters: ×
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ×
Adequate Parking: ×
Safe to use: ✓
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ×
Station In Good Condition: ×
TVMs: ×
Ticket Offices: ×
TOD: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (countdown clocks): ×
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 5/10
 

Station Directory

 
--------Philadelphia County--------
''''''''Center City Zone''''''''
Jefferson (Market East)
Suburban
30th Street
Penn Medicine
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
--------Delaware County--------
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Fernwood - Yeadon
Lansdowne
Gladstone
Clifton - Aldan
Primos 
Secane
Morton
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
Swarthmore
Moylan - Rose Valley
Media
Elwyn
Wawa
 

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