MAIN LINE WHINE

One thing that hasn't changed in the People's Republic of Lower Merion - or at least in the weekly papers that serve it - is the complaining about how they've been treated with no respect by SEPTA (which is a laughably ridiculous through, but that's another story).

An editorial in the current edition of Main Line Times offers a little word of advice for Pennsylvania's senior senator:

We'd love it if some heavy-hitting national poltical figure, say U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, would make SEPTA and Amtrak resolve their years-long bureaucratic dispute regarding repairs to the Wynnewood R-5 bridge before the walkway collapses and somebody gets hurt. Our incumbent politicians, Specter not the least of them, like to advertise their clout when it's re-election time. Meanwhile, we can't get a crummy railway bridge repaired. Maybe if we named the bridge after Sen. Robert Byrd ... but somehow the Robert "Sheets" Byrd Bridge in Wynnewood doesn't seem to fit our community.

Considering that SEPTA has often blamed Amtrak for the on-going poor reliability on the Paoli Line, you'd have an easier chance of seeing Brittney Spears walk down the aisle before any progress is made on the Wynnewood Bridge. (Oh, wait, you mean she already did get married? Never mind...)

And maybe as soon as Specter is done kissing up to prospective voters in Wynnewood, maybe he can do something about improving service on the outer end of the line...

MORE ON-TIME ISSUES

This time, the problems are not SEPTA's fault. At least not directly...

The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reports that NJ Transit's recent schedule change is having a ripple effect on SEPTA's already dreadful on-time performance. On the Northeast Corridor line between Trenton and Penn Station/New York, connection times at Trenton have been decreased, thanks in large part to the introduction of weekday service to Secaucus Junction. SEPTA has agreed to hold R7 trains for up to 5 minutes to accomodate delayed NJ Transit trains arriving from New York. Unfortunately, that's bound to cause a ripple effect along not only the Trenton side of the R7 but also the Chestnut Hill East side as well.

And there's one group of commuters in Philadelphia who SEPTA can ill afford to infuriate ... those who use either Chestnut Hill branch on the railroad.

To it's credit, though, SEPTA has reportedly posted the updated times at the website (I'll have to verify this). It'll be interesting to see how much of an impact this will have on SEPTA.

ACCIDENT IN SOUTH PHILLY

A 76-year-old man was struck by a SEPTA bus on Broad St near Oregon early this morning. Details are minimal, but the 68 bus had just arrived from Eastwick shortly after 6:00am when the accident occured.