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PATCO 18 month Track Rehab Project in Final Stage

Beginning Thursday, December 3rd , PATCO will terminate its annual Leaf Season schedule and return to a modified schedule to allow for the completion of its $103 million track rehabilitation project.
 
This returns PATCO to a full, normal schedule between Monday and Thursday morning, and only requires a revised schedule between Thursday mid-day and Sunday night through December 20th. The revised schedule is now available online and printed timetables are currently being distributed.
 
“We are very happy to be entering the final weeks of this 18-month, $103 million infrastructure project,” said PATCO General Manager John Rink. “I’m sure that the thousands of people who travel on PATCO every day share our excitement about the pending completion of this work. Their patience has been greatly appreciated and we look forward to announcing the completion of this important project which directly supports our commitment to being responsible stewards of public assets.  We are bringing this project in ahead of schedule and on-budget.”
 
The work in this final stage of the project involves finishing the electronic signal and communications system replacements associated with the train track on the north side of the Ben Franklin Bridge. As contractors work on the north-side track, all trains will run on the south-side track from 10 am Thursday through Friday night. As a result of eastbound and westbound trains sharing a single track, there will continue to be shorter and less frequent service gaps on Thursday afternoons and all day Friday. Some rush-hour trains will continue to run as frequently as every two minutes toward Philadelphia on Friday mornings and toward New Jersey on Thursday and Friday evenings. There will be a three-week return to longer gaps in service for reverse-peak passengers riding eastbound to New Jersey in the morning and westbound toward Philadelphia in the evening.  The contractors will be working on either track all day on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Express trains will continue to operate from Woodcrest Monday through Thursday mornings but will be temporarily suspended on Friday mornings, with local trains originating at Haddonfield to provide maximum passenger capacity during the reduced operating window on Friday morning.  Passengers traveling eastbound to New Jersey on Thursday and Friday afternoons will continue to benefit from trains that enter service at 8th & Market station.  These trains provide seats to passengers boarding at that station and reduce crowding on trains originating at 15/16th and Locust.
 
Trains will run on full, normal schedules from Monday morning rush hour through Thursday morning rush hour, when both tracks across the bridge will be open. The weekend schedule continues service every 30 minutes, as PATCO has provided for the past several months.
 
PATCO will operate a special Holiday schedule for Christmas and New Year’s weekends, and will publish those schedules by mid-December.

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