King of Prussia Rail Map: Here's What the Line Looks Like

SEPTA has announced a finalized route for the proposed Norristown High Speed Line extension to King of Prussia. Planners chose a route taking advantage of PECO (electric/gas utility) and Pennsylvania Turnpike right of ways, avoiding any close contact with residential areas, before skirting the King of Prussia Mall on the way to a terminus next to the Valley Forge Casino.

Nowhere in any of the news reports (or on SEPTA's website promoting the project) can one find a decent map illustrating the route, so I created one.

King of Prussia Rail: Click Map to Enlarge

In order to mitigate local opposition, the route relies heavily on the Turnpike right of way, which surely helps drive up the cost (estimated at 1.2 billion). At this price, the pros and cons of such a project need to be carefully reckoned.

King of Prussia Rail: Pros

As SEPTA points out, the line would link the region's three major economic hubs: Center City, University City and King of Prussia (not to mention the Main Line). It would alleviate traffic and pollution in one of the most congested road corridors in the Northeast and be an economic boon for the area, cutting travel times and enabling a one-seat ride for shoppers, employees and residents. In addition to the mall and casino complexes, the line would provide access to the Chester Valley Trail, one of the most important of the Philadelphia Circuit Trails

King of Prussia Rail: Cons

The price, obviously. As pointed out by a community group, the station locations do not easily benefit  local residents as none outside the immediate mall area are pedestrian-friendly. Construction on and along the Turnpike will be an extended headache while the line gets built, and the line may encourage even more intense development along the edge of Valley Forge National Historic Park. (While coming tantalizingly close, the line does not facilitate pedestrian/bike access to the park due to Gulph Road and Route 422.)

Another factor to consider is that elements of the existing Norristown High Speed Line could prove the weakest links in a very expensive chain. It was just four years ago SEPTA was doing emergency repairs on the century-old Bridgeport Viaduct to replace rotting timbers. As SEPTA notes, an extensive rehabilitation project is still needed on the bridge—just the most high-profile of a number of issues resulting from decades of deferred maintenance on the underfunded rail line.

For King of Prussia Rail to succeed, SEPTA as a whole must be healthy. Perhaps SEPTA hopes KOP rail would make the NHSL (and the system as a whole) too big to fail.