Warminster Line

Warminster Line
Northbound Warminster Line train leaving the Melrose Park station in Cheltenham
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	SEPTA Regional Rail
Status	Operating
Termini	University City Warminster
Stations	17
Daily ridership	8,434
Website	septa.org
Operation
Operator(s)	SEPTA Regional Rail
Rolling stock	Electric Multiple Units
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Catenary
Route map University City 30th Street Station Suburban Station Jefferson Station Reading Terminal Spring Garden Street Temple University Manayunk/Norristown Line to Elm Street Wayne Junction Chestnut Hill East Line to Chestnut Hill East Fox Chase Line to Fox Chase Fern Rock Transportation Center Melrose Park Elkins Park Jenkintown-Wyncote West Trenton Line to West Trenton Glenside Lansdale/Doylestown Line to Doylestown Ardsley Roslyn Crestmont Willow Grove NS Trenton Cutoff Fulmor Hatboro Warminster New Hope & Ivyland Railroad to New Hope This diagram:

The Warminster Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail commuter rail. It serves stations between its namesake town, Warminster, and Center City, Philadelphia. Half of the route is shared by other lines, including the Lansdale/Doylestown Line, West Trenton Line, Fox Chase Line, Chestnut Hill East Line, and Manayunk/Norristown Line.

The Warminster Line uses the SEPTA Main Line between Center City and Glenside, where it branches off onto its own line to Hatboro and Warminster. The tracks continue past Warminster to Ivyland and eventually to New Hope, where the New Hope & Ivyland 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.

The North Pennsylvania Railroad formed the North East Pennsylvania Railroad in 1870 to construct a branch from its line at Abington (as Glenside was then known) to Hatboro. The line opened on December 18, 1872. The line was further extended to Hartsville on November 9, 1874. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, forerunner of the Reading Company, leased the parent North Pennsylvania Railroad in 1879, gaining control of the line. It extended the line to its final terminus at New Hope on April 29, 1891. The Reading electrified the line, which it called the New Hope Branch, as far as Hatboro on July 26, 1931.