| Holland SEPTA regional rail |
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| Station statistics | |||||||||||
| Address | 830 Holland Road Holland, Pennsylvania |
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| Lines | |||||||||||
| Structure | station shed (demolished) | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||
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| Closed | January 14, 1983 | ||||||||||
| Electrified | no | ||||||||||
| Owned by | SEPTA | ||||||||||
| Formerly | Reading Railroad | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Holland is a derelict station located along SEPTA's Fox Chase/Newtown Line located on Holland Road in Holland, Pennsylvania near the Churchville Reservoir.
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Holland Station was a stop on the Reading Railroad's Newtown Line. It later became a part of SEPTA's Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line. The station, and all of those north of Fox Chase, was closed on January 14, 1983,[1] due to failing diesel train equipment that SEPTA had little desire to rehabilitate.
In addition, a labor dispute began within the SEPTA organization when the transit operator inherited 1,700 displaced employees from Conrail. SEPTA insisted on utilizing transit operators from the Broad Street Subway to operate Fox Chase-Newtown diesel trains, while Conrail requested that railroad motormen run the service. When a federal court ruled that SEPTA had to use Conrail employees in order to offer job assurance, SEPTA cancelled Fox Chase-Newtown trains.[2] Service in the diesel-only territory north of Fox Chase was cancelled at that time, and Holland Station still appears in publicly posted tariffs.[3]
Although rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus, patronage remained light. The traveling public never saw a bus service as a suitable replacement for a rail service, and the Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus service ended in 1999.
SEPTA constructed a metal shelter—featuring a large SEPTA logo on the side—in the early 1980s shortly before train service ended. The shelter was demolished in the summer of 2000, shortly after bus service was terminated.
In the ensuing years, there has been interest in resuming passenger service by Bucks County officials, including the Upper Southampton Board of Supervisors.[4] In an effort to appease SEPTA, Newtown explored the option of utilizing electric/diesel locomotives on the branch, which would be considerably less expensive than electrifying the line.[5]
In September 2009, the Southampton-based Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition (PA-TEC) began discussions with township officials along the railway, as well as SEPTA officials, about the realistic possibility of resuming even minimal passenger service to relieve traffic congestion in the region. Plans call for completing the electrification to Newtown, as originally planned in the late 1970s.
PA-TEC's efforts have received bipartisan support by both Bucks and Montgomery County officials, as well as at the state level, despite SEPTA's overall reservations. However, SEPTA has also confirmed they are willing to reestablish regular commuter service if political support exists in both counties.[6]
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