Southampton (SEPTA station)

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Southampton
SEPTA regional rail

Southampton station depot undergoing restoration
April 28, 2012

Station statistics

Address

Second Street Pike and Knowles Avenue
Upper Southampton, Pennsylvania.

Coordinates

40°10′19″N 75°02′38″W / 40.1720°N 75.0438°WCoordinates: 40°10′19″N 75°02′38″W / 40.1720°N 75.0438°W

Line(s)

Fox Chase Line

Levels

Platforms

1 side platform

Tracks

Parking

15 spaces

Other information

Opened

1892

Closed

January 14, 1983

Electrified

Owned by

SEPTA

Formerly

Reading Railroad

Services

Preceding station		SEPTA		Following station
County Line (closed 1983) toward 30th Street Station		Fox Chase Line Newtown		Churchville (closed 1983) toward Newtown

Southampton is a derelict station located along SEPTA's Fox Chase/Newtown Line located on Second Street Pike (PA-232) near Knowles Avenue in Upper Southampton, Pennsylvania.

History

Built in 1892, Southampton 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 (RDCs).

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 Southampton Station still appears in publicly posted tariffs.^[3]

Although rail service was initially replaced with a Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus, patronage remained light, and the Fox Chase-Newtown shuttle bus service ended in 1999.

Fire

SEPTA RDC train stopping at Southampton Station, December 16, 1981. This was during the 16-month period when SEPTA operated their experimental Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line

Crossing signal equipment continued to operate properly, with warning lights blinking through the fire on January 2, 1982

Three months after SEPTA assumed operations, on January 2, 1982, the crossing at Second Street Pike just south of Southampton Station was the site of a fiery crash between a train, a gasoline truck, and a car. Five people were injured and the accident caused flames to rise fifty feet in the air and created a plume of black smoke visible for miles.^[4] Photographs from the fire indicate the crossing signal equipment was working properly, with warning lights continuing to warn motorists after the collision occurred.^[5] SEPTA general manager David L. Gunn ordered additional safety precautions, but service ceased just over a year after the accident.^[6]

References

↑ newtownline.pa-tec.org/history
↑ Tulsky, Fredric N. (January 29, 1982). "Conrail Staff Must Run Trains: court ruling bars SEPTA takeover". Philadelphia Inquirer. SEPTA must use Conrail workers rather than its own personnel to run trains over the region's 13 commuter lines, a special federal court has ruled in a decision that offers some job assurance for 1,700 Conrail employees next year. The special court, in an opinion issued Wednesday, ruled that SEPTA had acted legally in October when it replaced Conrail workers with its former subway operators on the line.
↑ SEPTA Tariff No. 154; effective July 1, 2009
↑ Halsey, III, Ashley (January 3, 1982). "5 Hurt in Fiery Rail Collision". Philadelphia Inquirer.
↑ Stecklow, Steve (January 4, 1982). "Clues Sought in Crash of Train, Truck". Philadelphia Inquirer.
↑ Tulsky, Frederic N. (January 7, 1982). "SEPTA Stiffens Rail Safety Rules". Philadelphia Inquirer.

External links

v t e SEPTA

City Transit Division	Market–Frankford Line Broad Street Line Subway–Surface Trolley Lines (Routes 10, 11, 13, 34, and 36) Route 15 Trackless trolleys (Routes 59, 66, and 75) City surface routes

Suburban Division	Norristown High Speed Line Routes 101 and 102 Suburban bus routes

Regional Rail	Main Line Airport Line Chestnut Hill East Line Chestnut Hill West Line Cynwyd Line Fox Chase Line Lansdale/Doylestown Line Manayunk/Norristown Line Media/Elwyn Line Paoli/Thorndale Line Trenton Line Warminster Line West Trenton Line Wilmington/Newark Line

Major stations	Frankford Transportation Center Fern Rock Transportation Center Market East Station Norristown Transportation Center Olney Transportation Center Suburban Station 30th Street Station 69th Street Transportation Center

Former services	Route 6 trolley Route 23 trolley Route 56 trolley Route 60 trolley Route 103 trolley Route 104 trolley Elwyn-West Chester service Cynwyd-Ivy Ridge service Fox Chase Rapid Transit Line SEPTA diesel service

Miscellaneous	SEPTA Transit Police Silverliner Station lists Regional Rail Rapid transit Trolley and Interurban

v t e Mass transit in the Delaware Valley

Transit buses	SEPTA Philadelphia Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties Pottstown Pottstown Area Rapid Transit Reading Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority New Jersey Transit Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County suburban service Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County local service Atlantic and Cape May County local service Long-distance local routes from Philadelphia Long-distance routes from Atlantic City DART First State Kent County New Castle County

Commuter rail	SEPTA Regional Rail Airport Line Chestnut Hill East Line Chestnut Hill West Line Cynwyd Line Fox Chase Line Lansdale/Doylestown Line Manayunk/Norristown Line Media/Elwyn Line Paoli/Thorndale Line Trenton Line Warminster Line West Trenton Line Wilmington/Newark Line New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line

Rapid transit and light rail	SEPTA Broad Street Line Market–Frankford Line Norristown High Speed Line Subway–Surface trolleys Route 15 Routes 101 and 102 Delaware River Port Authority PATCO Speedline New Jersey Transit River Line Proposed Schuylkill Valley Metro (cancelled) Greenline (cancelled) Glassboro–Camden Line Camden-Philadelphia BRT

Related organizations	Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Pennsylvania Transit Expansion Coalition (PA-TEC) National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers (DVARP)

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