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Showing posts with the label Accessible

Station Review #100: BARTA Transportation Center/Reading Transportation Center (AMTRAK/BARTA)

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BARTA Transportation Center is a station in Reading, PA. The station is located on Franklin Street, near the old Reading Train station History The old station, now a brewpub and transportation museum There had been passenger rail service at Reading since 1871, when the Wilmington and Northern trains started stopping at a station on front and Penn Streets. Franklin Street station is the one pictured above. The original station at Franklin Street was constructed in 1884, and replaced by the Reading Railroad in 1930. This station was built as an infill for Downtown Reading, since the Reading Outer station was in the middle of the city.  The line changed owners many times until it eventually got to conrail, which allowed SEPTA service on the line. Trains ran here through to Pottsville and Philadelphia until 1981. The Pottsville line was one of the earlier lines to experience cutbacks that many other lines did as well. No trains ran here ever since.  The BAR...

Station Review #98: 49th Street (SEPTA)

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49th Street is a station on SEPTA's Media/Wawa line. The station is located at 49th and Chester in Philadelphia's Kingsessing neighborhood. 49th Street is a Zone 1 station.  History The old 49th Street station  It's relatively unknown when there started being a train station in the location where 49th Street station is today. The station was known to have existed by 1886, and the line it was on started construction in 1852. The station did not originally exist at the time and most likely was added as an infill station in the 1860s or 1870s.  Any old station house in the area was most likely demolished in the 1950s-1960s, replaced by a few small shelters. Years later, some ramps and mini-high platforms were added to make the station accessible. Not much else has changed since then. Tour Path to the station  The shelter for the outbound platform For some reason, the shelter at the outbound platform is very far away from t...

Station Review #96: North Wales (SEPTA)

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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.  ...