FUN ON THE R7

Yesterday featured a fairly eventful morning on the R7 Trenton line, according to John Almeida's reports in the Philly Traction web group at Yahoo...

For starters, police (it was reported to be Philadelphia Police, but most likely, it was Bensalem Township) were dispatched to the Cornwells Heights station shortly after 8:00am. Two allegedly intoxicated passengers boarded the #9728 (8:01am from Trenton express to Center City) at Croydon with no money to pay their fares; the #9728's crew reportedly requested police assistance at either Torresdale or Holmesburg Junction, but were told by Amtrak dispatchers that "waiting for the police would really tie up the railroad." and suggested that the passengers would be met by police at 30 St Station. We don't know how Bensalem Police were notified, but by the time the #9728 arrived at Cornwells Heights, the passengers in question were removed from the train without delaying the rest of the system.

Shortly after 9:00am, Amtrak Regional #172 (Washington to Boston) suffered mechanical failure at Morris Interlocking in Morrisville (which is just before the bridge leading into the Trenton station). SEPTA's #721 was delayed about 10-15 minutes as it switched from it's normal track position at Grundy Interlocking (north of Bristol station), using the inner track to board passengers at Levittown. The disabled Amtrak train arrived in Trenton at 10:18am, with passengers being discharged at Trenton (which is not a stop on the #172) and transferred onto the #132 (Washington to New York), which completed the #172's run to Boston.

Just another fun day on the Northeast Corridor...