Station Review #184: Washington Lane (SEPTA)


Washington Lane is a SEPTA Regional Rail station located near Washington Lane and Chew Avenue in the East Germantown neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia. 

History

The station with older signage.

In 1878, the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad built a Walnut Lane station along their Chestnut Hill Branch. The PG&N was subsequently bought out by the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1907, work was underway to remove grade crossings along a few lines. In doing so, the PRR replaced the station with a new Washington Lane station. The depot fell into disrepair and was demolished to make way for more parking. Part of a shelter was kept from it, and not much else. 

Tour

The station from across the road.

Washington Lane is a small station, or at least it's small enough that you can't see it past the very large trees. Those have been growing since the 1930s at the very earliest. 
Inaccessible walking path.

Parking lot.
 
This station has a little bit of parking, 52 spaces to be exact. 

Platform.

Washington Lane station is a shining example of inaccessibility. The platform is very low to the floor and not in very good shape, and you need steps to get on the train. 
 
 
The shelter.
The shelter had no back or side sections, so good luck in a storm.

Benches.
Outdated signage.
These signs haven't been correct since late 2025. 

More outdated signage.

Bike parking and another bench.

The entire northbound platform.
That's everything, there's isn't even a shelter on this side. 

Train!

Bus Connections

There's two bus connections immediately near Washington Lane Station:

  • 18 - Cedarbrook Plaza to Fox Chase: This bus runs on several roads, many of which are highly traveled corridors. With this and a frequency of a bus every 12 or so minutes in mind, the 18 gets a lot of ridership. In this area, the 18 runs along Chew Avenue. 
  • 81 - Cheltenham-Ogontz Loop to Broad and Erie via Washington Lane: This bus was formerly known until 2025 as the XH, and many still call it that. The 81 is similar to its cousin, the 71, in that both buses run between Cheltenham-Ogontz Loop and Broad and Erie. The difference between these two buses is that the 81 turns onto Washington Lane, while the 71 instead goes along Mount Pleasant and Mount Airy Avenues, among others. The 81 runs about once every 30 minutes, and has a bus stop immediately outside of the station. 

Points of Interest Near Washington Lane Station

Immediately nearby the station you have: 

Awbury Arboretum: This is a large arboretum near the station. It has a small pond, trails, and many interesting plants. Best of all, there's no cost to admission. This was the reason I even used this station. 

Save-a-Lot: A grocery store that's part of a chain, like any other Save-a-Lot. 

And there's also a large amount of somewhat dense rowhome housing near the station. 

Statistics


Name: Washington Lane 
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): Chestnut Hill East
Locality: Germantown
Municipality: Philadelphia 
County: Philadelphia 
State: Pennsylvania 
Ridership: 249 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: 2/10
 

Station Directory

--------Philadelphia County--------
''''''''Center City Zone''''''''
30th Street
Suburban
Jefferson (Market East)
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
Wayne Junction
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Washington Lane
Stenton
Mt. Airy
Wyndmoor
Gravers
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Station Review #96: North Wales (SEPTA)

Image
North Wales is a station on SEPTA's Lansdale-Doylestown Line. The station is located at 5th and Walnut Street in North Wales, PA.  History It's unknown when the original North Wales station was built, but what is known is that the North Pennsylvania Railroad rebuilt it in 1873. At some point, this station was heavily remodeled by the Reading Railroad, including a removal of the cupola. Despite this, North Wales station remains as one of the few still-operating stations with a usable depot built by the North Pennsylvania Railroad, along with Doylestown   In 2008, North Wale was remodeled again, with the station being made fully accessible while the building remained intact. Tour North Wales station is fully accessible. This means getting to the trains from the platforms is extremely simple and stress free. There are worker shuttles operated from North Wales station, I could find absolutely no information on these.  ...
Read more

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

Image
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 ...
Read more

Station Review #124: Highland (SEPTA)

Image
Highland is a station on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill West line. The station is located at 8412 Seminole Avenue in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. If one doesn't count the Chestnut Hill West Line platforms at North Philadelphia station as a separate station, Highland station has the lowest ridership of any station on the Chestnut Hill West Line, as well as the 9th least used overall.  History The Philadelphia, Germantown, and Chestnut Hill branch of the Connecting Railway (a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad made to connect) was established in 1884, and a line from North Philadelphia to Chestnut Hill to connect with the PRR main line was finished in 1887, and with it Highland station opened. A large depot was built for the station, but it didn't seem to be used a lot.  In 1916, this section of the PRR Chestnut Hill branch was grade separated, and with that the old depot was demolished. In its place went a small wooden shelter. At some ...
Read more