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Newspaper Articles
Various organizations work to revitalize the Octoraro rail line
By Amanda Hoffmann
Staff Writer
Posted on Mon, Nov. 3, 2008
Some southern Chester and Delaware County residents are starting grass
roots campaigns to develop railway initiatives that will ease the burden
of commuting without putting a strain on taxpayers.
They propose to do this by repairing, rebuilding and adding onto
abandoned rail lines, some of which are privately owned and have been
out of operation for decades.
Oxford Area Transit Services (OATS) is a non-profit organization working
to revitalize the Octoraro Line, which runs through southern Chester
County from Nottingham through Chadds Ford, and ceased operating around
1948.
“According to the Pennsylvania railroad who owned Octoraro when it was
discontinued, it was no longer a profitable rail road,” said co-founder
of the OATS Team and chairperson, John Stevenson, RA. “If you look at it
today, 60 years later, the need is back, with gas prices being what they
are and the local densities of people being increased.”
Stevenson said a working rail line in the region would boost economic
growth and increase jobs in the area by attracting businesses along the
route. He said the community’s cash flow through tax money from these
businesses will support schools and infrastructure. The rail line, he
contends, will support itself with proceeds from freight shipments along
the line.
“‘Freight first,’ is our motto,” Stevenson said. “In order to have a
successful commuter service, you need a successful and profitable
freight service to provide maintenance for that line.”
Stevenson said any profits turned from the freight line would go toward
maintaining the track and signals and the remainder, along with ticket
sales from passengers, would be used to upgrade, improve and maintain
the passenger line.
The passenger cars, as envisioned by OATS, would be like a coffeehouse
lounge on wheels.
The cars, equipped with state of the art suspension systems and
airplane-type seating with drop-down trays, feature Internet and power
connections for cell phones and laptops to avoid battery drainage en
route.
Large-screen televisions will be located throughout the air-conditioned
car for commuters to watch as they wait at the coffee bar and
contemplate whether to have a muffin or a cookie to go with their
caffeine.
Of course, there will also be bathrooms for men and women on each car.
“We want to attract people with this idea,” Stevenson said. “You can do
your e-mails and Word document outlines and ‘To-do’ lists on the train,
get on the phone with clients and customers while you watch the stock
reports and multitask for an hour — that’s not driving a half- hour.
When you get to your destination, it’s a morning break in your work load
to walk from the train to your office.”
Stevenson estimates that nine of these passenger cars will cost under $3
million. “The immediate cost to improve the Octoraro line from Chadds
Ford to Nottingham is $88 million,” Stevenson said.
This figure includes the locomotives, passenger cars, creation of seven
railroad stations and the upgrade and repair of the rail line itself.
“That is not a lot of money in the world of transportation numbers,”
Stevenson said. “You are saving millions in taxpayer money by using the
existing rail.”
OATS is actively seeking funding from Chester County, Penndot, Delaware
Valley Regional Planning Commission, Federal Transportation Agency and
the Federal Rail Administration.
But getting funding is proving to be an uphill battle. “At this time, at
the federal and state level and in our region, as well, there is very
limited funding for transportation and infrastructure improvements,”
said Director of Transportation Services for the Chester County Planning
Commission, Natasha Goguts. “There are a number of possibilities that
are out there, but not the funding to implement them.”
Goguts said that the Octoraro line, while useful, would fail to serve
destinations with a larger potential workforce commute. Even if the line
was in place, Goguts said, the issue then is how people get from the
train station to their offices without other infrastructure in place,
like bus systems.
“We have been coordinating with [Stevenson] and other members of OATS to
discuss future planning and/or appropriate next steps,” Goguts said.
“Anything is possible.”
Meanwhile in Phoenixville, Barry Cassidy, director of the Main Street
Community Development Corporation, is trying to get the “green light” on
the Greenline Project, which would revitalize an existing rail and run
from Phoenixville to Paoli.
“We have no connection to Chester County. We are isolated here for
public transportation. The only alternative for us is the rail
transportation line,” said Cassidy, who established an advocacy group
called “Citizens for the Train.”
Cassidy said he spotted the old rail line on a map, and people started
to rally around the idea. Citizens for the Train now has more than 100
members, according to Cassidy.
The group secured $15,000 from a corporate entity to do a cost analysis
study. Cassidy said the study recommended it would cost $139 million for
the Greenline Project, at $11 million per mile.
“We are in the process of raising money to do a study for the operation
to find out what the demand for the services is, people-wise, what the
passenger demand would be,” Cassidy said.
The second study costs $250,000, Cassidy said. Citizens for the Train is
in the process of working with the corporate community to put together a
package for solicitation.
“We are doing all of our feasibility studies with private monies,”
Cassidy said. “We aren’t entering the world of grants because of the
limited availability and the politics involved.”
For more information, visit the organizations Web sites at
www.oatrains.org or www.mainstreetphoenixville.org.
©The Philadelphia Inquirer 2008
Grand Plan:
All aboard in Oxford
By GRETCHEN METZ, Daily Local News
10/03/2008
OXFORD — C. John Stevenson has an idea about the little freight train
track that could — could become a passenger rail line, that is.
Stevenson, and his colleague, M. Walter Saranetz, founded Oxford Area
Transit Services, which goes by the acronym OATS, about a year ago.
Phase One of OATS is to assist Oxford Borough and surrounding townships
and East Penn Railroad (the former Octorara Line) to improve freight
service. The freight line runs from Chadds Ford south to Nottingham.
C. John Stevenson and M. Walter
Saranetz stand
by the railroad at borough hall in Oxford.
Phase Two, add commuter service.
"Freight first, then passengers," the determined 63-year old Stevenson
said. "Build it and they will come. Attract enough attention and it will
happen."
The project is being funded initially by Stevenson and Saranetz.
The men hope to develop the concept to the point where they can apply
for a funding grant to underwrite a feasibility study. But to get to
that point, Stevenson said they could spend as much as $28,000
themselves.
Stevenson, a semi-retired architect for Conrail, believes the freight
line is underutilized. To get more users on board, he said he is
reaching out by Internet and in person to companies in southern Chester
County that he thinks would benefit by shipping freight by rail and to
companies that might be interested in locating along the line.
He is also reaching out to get reaction to his plan for passenger
services.
"Before we start, I'm talking to the major players, business leaders
like Herr's and Lincoln University," Stevenson said. "Public support is
what is keeping us going. Of all the people we've met with, there's not
been one dissenting voice against what we're trying to accomplish."
To get the rail line improved and purchase passenger cars would cost an
estimated $88 million, Stevenson said. And that doesn't include the cost
of building passenger stations with wireless Internet access,
flat-screen TVs and other amenities that Stevenson envisions.
Since there is no place to put a train station and a sizable parking lot
in the boroughs in southern Chester County, Stevenson proposes to put
the stations outside of town. According to his Web site,
www.OATrainS.org, the stations would serve the Nottingham, Oxford,
Lincoln University, Elk View, West Grove/Avondale, Kennett Square and
Chadds Ford areas.
To the south, the line connects to CSX and Norfolk Southern. To the
north, it ends in a switching yard in Chadds Ford. To connect it to
SEPTA's R3 future stop in Wawa, a bridge would have to be built over
Route 202, Stevenson said.
Besides funding and geography, Stevenson has several significant
obstacles to overcome, starting with ownership.
It is not his rail line.
Regional Rail LLC acquired the line from John Nolan in August 2007.
Robert Parker, president and chief executive of Regional Rail, knows of
Stevenson's vision but said it is not feasible.
There are seven freight customers on the line, Parker said. There are no
train stations for customers. Goods are delivered to rail sidings. The
train runs every other day and not all seven customers get deliveries
each time the train runs.
It is a service-as-needed line, he said.
Though OATS is going after funds for a feasibility study for passenger
service, Parker beleives that money would be better spent improving the
track and the freight service.
For OATS, that is only half the problem.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, a former owner,
still has passenger rights, Parker said.
"We couldn't run a passenger line even if we wanted to," Parker said.
Gary Fairfax, SEPTA spokesman, confirmed the authority still maintains
passenger rights. And, he said, no one has approached SEPTA about
starting such a service on that line.
While passenger service sounds like a nice idea, it is not reasonable
because of the investment needed, Fairfax said. Besides, Fairfax
continued, the Octorara line, "that's under water half the time."
In 1999, when shortline operator Morristown & Erie Railway operated the
line for SEPTA, severe flooding from Hurricane Floyd washed out a
significant amount of track bed in the Kennett Square area.
In 1972, flooding from Hurricane Agnes washed out the rail line's bridge
between Wawa and Chadds Ford in Delaware County. It has never been
replaced.
Still, Stevenson's vision has appeal to some.
Gary Smith, president and chief executive of the Chester County Economic
Development Council, said as the county develops, there has always been
thinking about making the Octorara a light transit line.
"It's good to have an advocate," Smith said of Stevenson. "Every good
product needs an advocate."
Stevenson is undeterred.
"It is a complex problem, but doable," he said.
To contact staff writer Gretchen Metz, send an e-mail to gmetz@dailylocal.com.
©Daily Local News 2008
Contact info:
C. John Stevenson, Chairperson <c.john.stevenson@oatrains.org>; M. Walter Saranetz, Vice-Chair <m.walter.saranetz@oatrains.org>
Oxford Area Transit Services, 5 Mt. Vernon Street, Oxford Pennsylvania 19363 (610) 932-9670