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Airport Line

An Airport Line train after departing 30th Street Station

Overview

Type

Commuter rail line

System

SEPTA

Status

Operating

Termini

Philadelphia International Airport Terminals
Temple University

Stations

Daily ridership

6,907

Website

septa.org

Operation

Operator(s)

SEPTA Regional Rail

Technical

Track gauge

4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) Standard gauge

Route map

Interstate 95

Eastwick

Amtrak, Wilmington/Newark Line

This route map:

The Airport Line (formerly the R1 Airport) is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail commuter rail system, which officially runs between Philadelphia International Airport and Philadelphia Center City. In practice, Airport Line trains will usually become Warminster Line or, on weekends, West Trenton Line trains when they reach Center City, or will terminate at Temple University. The line runs seven days a week from 5:00 AM to midnight with trains every 30 minutes. The trip length from Suburban Station to the airport is 19 to 24 minutes.

Route

Geographic map of the route

The Airport Line is the only line on the Pennsylvania Railroad side of the Regional Rail System to be formerly owned by the Reading Company. The Airport Line opened on April 28, 1985 as SEPTA R1, providing service from Center City to the Philadelphia International Airport. By its twentieth anniversary in 2005, the line had carried over 20 million passengers to and from the airport. The line splits from Amtrak's Northeast Corridor north of Darby and passes over it via a flying junction. West of the airport, the line breaks from the old right-of-way and a new bridge carries it over I-95 and into the airport terminals between the baggage claim (arrivals) and the check-in counters (departures). The line ends between terminals E and F at their combined station.

Each airport station is directly connected to each airport terminal by escalators and elevators which rise one level to the walkways between the arrival and departure areas. All airport stations feature high-level platforms to make it easier to board and alight from the train with luggage, and some stations can be accessed directly from the baggage claim side across the road with the taxi stands.

Stations

The Airport Line makes the following station stops, after leaving 30th Street Station: All stations are in the county and city of Philadelphia.

Zone	Milepost	Station	Boardings	Notes
C	1.7	University City	2365	(also Wilmington/Newark Line and Media/Elwyn Line)
2	7.2	Eastwick	344
5	9.1	Airport Terminal A	570
5	Airport Terminal B	440
5	9.3	Airport Terminal C & D	800
5	9.4	Airport Terminal E & F	418

History

R1, the former designation of SEPTA's Airport Line

The line south of the Northeast Corridor was originally part of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad main line, opened on January 17, 1838. The connection between the NEC and the original PW&B is made however by the later 60th Street Branch. A new alignment of the PW&B (now the NEC) opened November 18, 1872, and on July 1, 1873 the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, later the Reading Company, bought the old line. Connection was made over the PRR's Junction Railroad and later the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad. However, as a condition of the sale, no passenger service was provided. The line passed into Conrail in 1976 and SEPTA in 1983, with passenger service to the Airport beginning on April 28, 1985.^[1]

Ridership

Ridership by fiscal year:

Fiscal year	Average weekday	Annual passengers
FY 2010	6,907	2,282,273^[2]
FY 2009	6,430	2,126,415^[3]
FY 2008	6,073	2,003,900^[4]
FY 2005	4,017	1,270,082
FY 2004	3,942	1,106,581
FY 2003	3,531	1,262,600
FY 2001	n/a	1,276,000
FY 2000	n/a	1,258,000
FY 1999	n/a	1,068,000
FY 1997	n/a	1,077,737
FY 1996	n/a	1,017,262
FY 1995	2,617	831,043
FY 1994	2,240	742,824
FY 1993	1,678	632,471
Note: n/a = not available

External links

References

Railroad History Database
PRR Chronology (Christopher T. Baer)

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 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 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 Long-distance local routes from Philadelphia DART First State 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 Other Greenline (proposed)

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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