The Pointless Journey to Wawa Station... Before it Opens

[@ClassyWhale]

13:15 you're running up that road, running up that hill...

[@sebastienhardinger4149]

To be fair, this is just a stepping stone on the way to a full extension back to West Chester. But the "X Station" developments that don't connect to the stations by foot are so ridiculous. Had a couple friends live at the "Exton Station" development near Exton on the Paoli-Thorndale line - they would have had to walk along a freeway to walk to the station and thus never did, even if they just lived a quarter mile away in real terms

[@spacepeanut]

True that. I'm glad to see work is being done on eventually getting the line back out to West Chester. I just wish they could put in full commitment to the project instead of hanging the possibility in the air for years. The Wawa Station project cost almost 200 million dollars as an isolated investment. If they keep doing single station extensions to West Chester, it's going to take absolutely forever and probably end up costing hundreds of millions more than it should. Meanwhile, West Chester borough is getting tired of waiting and is planning their own battery-powered service from West Chester to Wawa. If I had to guess, this is SEPTA's ultimate goal: to have as little involvement as possible in getting passenger rail out to West Chester. Also, while SEPTA is building a glorified park and ride in the middle of nowhere, their core infrastructure is crumbling. I know they have programs in the works to fix many of those problems, but it seems like all the shovel readiness is concentrated in projects that will bring the least benefits for most SEPTA riders (or even potential riders). I guess this is just a peak into what type of future planning SEPTA had going on 5-10 years ago. We'll just have to wait and see five years from now what they've got in store for the things that actually need investment.

[@sebastienhardinger4149]

@@spacepeanut Agreed on most. Though didn't the 200M also include electrifying the route? But 100% agreed that it would be better for SEPTA just to spend the money needed rather than incrementally do it. Not to mention the financial arson that is KOP rail

[@joeynova3550]

Na this was for restoration on the Octoraro branch (just kidding kind of). A study done by Septa around 15 years ago said that restoration of the Octoraro branch came out more favorably then returning service to West Chester. As of now SEPTA does not have any plans to go to West Chester.

[@BRIANDER100]

@@spacepeanut any more info on this battery-powered service from West Chester to Wawa ? what will the difference between this and regular service ?

[@BRIANDER100]

you should do a video on the rails past wawa station

[@DanCohoon]

I went the first day it opened. No thought or consideration was given to the pedestrian rider at all.

[@alexludy48]

the length of times between buses is so bad 😭

[@ThatBirdLiam]

I know nothing about philadelphia train networks lmao but this is a nice video and I like the editing

[@PositionLight]

Could you have brought your bike on the R3? It's only 3 miles from Wawa to Elwyn with more than sufficient back roads and cut throughs to avoid Rt 1.

[@spacepeanut]

Definitely could've, but I thought it'd be more interesting to try and take the bus there instead. Also, the last mile or so to Wawa station doesn't have any good way to avoid Route 1, so I'd be stuck in the grass or on the highway. Not ideal for biking. I also hate taking my bike on regional rail. I always have some issue with getting it secured, and getting it up or down from a low level platform is torture. Would be difficult to film, too.

[@adammitry6011]

Instead of expanding service to WC (and other areas), SEPTA is dumping money into the KOP boondoggle. It's a shame.

[@alexphipps4912]

Hopefully the station will before too long get proper pedestrian access with sidewalks and crosswalks, like Exton recently did (albeit still having to cross a highway entrance and a very wide stroad)

[@99ferns]

whew, this is bleak

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

Why?

[@dandarr5035]

@@IkeOkerekeNews Hour long wait times between buses, no real way to get to the station if you're not in a car... that, and how isolated the station is. Nothing but a highway and a bland suburban development still under construction. Yikes.

[@mikesrailfanning2189]

I tryed to walked through the forest and all I seen was the new railroad crossing

[@DeltaFish11]

I look forward to the next video, but yeah it's a suburban park and ride. The buses suck and bus stops. Even some bus stops inside the city suck too