SEPTA Holds KOP Rail Project Meeting

Written by Mischa Arnosky

Don’t like the traffic congestion in the King of Prussia area? Neither does SEPTA.

SEPTA held a public meeting and open house at the Radisson Hotel at the Valley Forge Casino late Tuesday afternoon to discuss the King of Prussia Rail Project, which would increase transit service to the area by expanding upon the Norristown High Speed Line.

The meeting was part of a formal scoping process that began last month with the publication of the Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register to receive input.

From the NOI:

"The purpose of the proposed project is to provide faster, more reliable public transit service that offers improved transit connections to the King of Prussia/Valley Forge area from communities along the existing Norristown High Speed Line ... The project need stems from deficiencies of current transit services in terms of long travel times, delays due to roadway congestion, required transfers leading to two or more seat trips and destinations underserved, or not currently served, by public transit."

SEPTA Director of Strategic Planning Byron Comati, addressing a crowd of about 100 people, said that the King of Prussia and Valley Forge area is growing in population and said a more efficient rail network would help quell traffic by replacing the six current bus routes.

According to Comati, the King of Prussia Mall employees 12,500 people, and is looking to expand; the mall gets 25 million visitors per year; and Valley Forge National Park gets 1.5 million visitors per year. About 4,000 people ride the bus to King of Prussia each weekday, he said.

“We know what the road conditions are, and frankly they’re not very good,” Comati said. “You never know how long it will take you to get from Philadelphia, and points south, to King of Prussia, and vice versa.”

Some of the extensions could include railways near Route 202; the Pennsylvania Turnpike; along PECO right of ways; and the abandoned Norfolk Southern rails, which are owned by SEPTA.

See www.kingofprussiarail.com for the map of preliminary alternatives.

Most of the people in attendance lauded the idea of the rail expansion.

A Drexel Hill resident said she would like to see the railway eventually extend up to Stony Creek and to Lansdowne, and one resident said, "Being an environmentalist, nothing thrills us more than hearing the phrase 'public transit.'"

Resident Mike Liebowitz, who lives near Matsonford Station, called the project wonderful, but said the project should also include improving existing stations.

Resident Deborah McGill didn’t seem bothered with the idea of expanding rail service, but said she was not thrilled with the idea of having an elevated train running along Route 202, which is just blocks from her house.

The project is in its infancy; SEPTA and the Federal Transit Administration must now prepare a draft Environmental Impact Study (which will take about two years), followed by a final Environmental Impact Study (which will take about a year). Then comes the engineering stage (which will take about three years), followed by a three- to four-year construction period … so look out for the trains by 2022. 

In the near future, SEPTA will hold another round of public meetings in the spring.