For approximately four weeks beginning Monday, June 10, SEPTA will be working between Woodbourne Station and West Trenton yard on the West Trenton Line. Work will be performed Monday through Thursday each week from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM daily. SEPTA Power Department personnel will be working from the wire train (which uses a diesel locomotive) removing old power catenary wires from the track that SEPTA previously shared with CSX.
Residents and motorists are advised of several impacts during this period of work. At various times throughout the day, individual grade crossings may be blocked for up to a half hour at a time, and per Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rules, trains will sound their horns as they pass the work train.
The catenary removal work will require the intermittent closures of grade crossings to allow crews to safely perform their work. Based on the current work schedule, crossings at Township Line/Big Oak, Heacock Road, Stoney Hill Road and Edgewood Road could be affected for brief periods on the following days:
- Monday, June 10 – Township Line Road
- Tuesday, June 11 – Township Line and Heacock Road
- Wednesday, June 12 – Heacock Road and Stoney Hill Road
- Thursday, June 13 – Heacock Road and Stoney Hill Road
- Tuesday, June 18 – Edgewood
These dates are estimates and are subject to change based on work progress. SEPTA is working with township police to coordinate closures and direct traffic to other crossings when roads are closed. There will be no temporary closures between 6:30 AM and 7:30 AM during morning rush-hour.
When the wire train is moving through a crossing, either CSX personnel will be on site to manually operate crossing gates to allow the train to safely move through, or SEPTA personnel will flag the train through crossings.
Motorists may see the wire train staged near a crossing or slowly approaching a crossing with the gates up. Residents have previously voiced concern when seeing this procedure, but it is a safety measure put in place to ensure that a slow-moving train does not enter a crossing before the gates come down and that a work train does not trigger a false activation.
Please note: The wire train is slower than a normal SEPTA train, and the public is asked to be patient when waiting at crossings.
SEPTA anticipates operating normal service throughout this period of work. The SEPTA grade crossings at Township Line Road, Heacock Road, Stoney Hill Road and Edgewood Road are expected to remain in service. SEPTA trains will approach crossings at typical speeds and will activate crossing gates in their usual fashion.
