Warminster Line

The Warminster Line uses the SEPTA Main Line between Center City and Glenside station, where it branches off onto the Warminster Branch to Hatboro and Warminster. The tracks continue past Warminster to Ivyland and eventually to New Hope, where the New Hope Railroad runs heritage excursion trains.

The Warminster Line becomes a single-track line just north of Ardsley, but was once double-tracked as far north as Roslyn, the original northbound track being removed in 2010. A passing siding exists north of Willow Grove. There is also a second storage track at the Hatboro station and the line becomes double-tracked again as it approaches the terminus at Warminster station.

{{see also|North Pennsylvania Railroad|Warminster Branch}}

File:Hatboro PA SEPTA station from parking lot December 2015.jpg was the extent of electrified service until 1974]]

File:R2 Warminster.gif

The Warminster Line is a continuation of the Reading Company's suburban services over the Warminster Branch. The line was built between 1872 and 1874 and electrified as far as Hatboro in 1931.{{sfnp|Coates|1990|p=84}} Passenger service beyond Hatboro ended in 1952. The Reading extended electrification and suburban service to Warminster on July{{nbsp}}29, 1974.{{sfnp|Coates|1990|p=84}}{{sfnp|Bell|1992|p=69}}

With the Reading's final bankruptcy in 1976 Conrail took over the operation of the trains and ownership of the branch.{{sfnp|USRA|1975|p=281}} The Warminster Branch was conveyed to SEPTA in 1979; SEPTA took over operation of the trains in 1983. A train crash occurred on July{{nbsp}}1, 2006, in Abington Township injuring 38 passengers and 6 crew members.{{cite web|last=King|first=Larry|title=A collision of errors on the R2 is detailed|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/local/20070805_A_collision_of_errors_on_the_R2_is_detailed.html|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=August 5, 2007|access-date=September 15, 2020}}

Beginning in 1984 the route was designated R2 Warminster as part of SEPTA's diametrical reorganization of its lines. Warminster Line trains operated through the city center to the Wilmington/Newark Line (then Marcus Hook) on the ex-Pennsylvania side of the system.{{cite book | last1=Vuchic | first1=Vukan | author-link1=Vukan Vuchic | last2=Kikuchi | first2=Shinya | year=1984 | title=General Operations Plan for the SEPTA Regional High Speed System | location=Philadelphia | publisher=SEPTA|pages=2–8}} The R-number naming system was dropped on July{{nbsp}}25, 2010.{{cite journal|last=Lustig|first=David|title=SEPTA makeover|journal=Trains|date=November 2010|pages=26|publisher=Kalmbach Publishing}} {{As of|2024}} the majority of Warminster trains continue on to the Airport Line, though some weekday trains terminate at 30th Street Station, Thorndale, or Trenton Transit Center.{{cite web|url=https://schedules.septa.org/current/WAR.pdf|title=Warminster Line timetable|date=January 7, 2024|publisher=SEPTA|access-date=March 31, 2024|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania}}

On April{{nbsp}}18, 2016, SEPTA launched positive train control on the Warminster Line, the first Regional Rail line to use the signal system which will enhance safety.{{cite news|last=Laughlin|first=Jason|title=Feds approve new SEPTA train-control safety system|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=February 28, 2016|url=http://articles.philly.com/2016-02-28/news/71006423_1_regional-rail-trains-warminster-line-septa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610055831/http://articles.philly.com/2016-02-28/news/71006423_1_regional-rail-trains-warminster-line-septa|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 10, 2016|access-date=May 22, 2016}}{{cite web|title=Positive Train Control Update|publisher=SEPTA|date=April 28, 2016|url=http://www.septa.org/service/rail/ptc/2016-04-28-ptc-update-warminster.html|access-date=May 22, 2016}}

In a 1991 report, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission ranked the line between Warminster and New Hope as having "medium potential" for reuse based on projected growth in population and employment in the region. It noted that SEPTA considered the line a "long range transit opportunity corridor."{{cite web |title=Potential Reuse of Inactive Rail Lines |url=https://www.dvrpc.org/Reports/91040.pdf |publisher=Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission |access-date=2 February 2021}}

File:Warminster PA SEPTA station February 2018.jpg, which serves as the terminus of the Warminster Line]]

The Warminster Line includes the following stations north of the Center City Commuter Connection; stations indicated with gray background area closed.

Between FY 2013–FY 2019 yearly ridership on the Warminster Line ranged between 2.3 and 2.7 million before collapsing during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{refn|group=note|Data for individual lines is not available for FY 2020.{{cite web | url=https://public.tableau.com/shared/JCCTWRBSK | title=Route Operating Statistics | last=SEPTA Data Group | accessdate=March 1, 2024}}}}{{Cite web |title=SEPTA Route Statistics |url=https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/septa.data.group/viz/shared/2PGM374D9 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=SEPTA}}

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| x legends = FY 2013:FY 2014:FY 2015:FY 2016:FY 2017:FY 2018:FY 2019:FY 2020:FY 2021:FY 2022:FY 2023

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{{reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Coates-Reading}}
• {{cite magazine | last=Bell | first=Kurt | title=New Hope for the New Hope | magazine=Railfan & Railroad | volume=11 | issue=10 | pages=68–75 | issn=0163-7266 | date=October 1992}}
• {{cite book | title=Final system plan for restructuring railroads in the Northeast and Midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 | year=1975 | author=United States Railway Association | author-link=United States Railway Association | location=Washington, DC | url=http://multimodalways.org/docs/govts/federal/executive/Agencies/DOT/USRA/FSP/FSP%20VI.pdf | oclc=2889148 | volume=1 | ref={{Harvid|USRA|1975}} }}

{{commons category}}

• [https://schedules.septa.org/current/WAR.pdf SEPTA – Warminster Line schedule]
• [http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR%20INTRO%20Jul%2004.wd.pdf The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society]

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{{Delaware Valley transit}}

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Category:SEPTA Regional Rail