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New PATCO schedules begin Thursday, February 12

Next stage of track rehabilitation project revises Thursday-Friday schedule. 

LINDENWOLD, NJ- Beginning after the morning rush hour on Thursday, February 12, 2015, PATCO will begin the next stage of its $103 million track rehabilitation project. The work requires a revised Thursday-Friday schedule at least through the end of March. The revised schedule is now available online and printed timetables will be distributed and posted at all PATCO stations.

The work in this stage of the project involves updating the electronic signal and communications systems associated with the train track on the south side of the Ben Franklin Bridge. As contractors work on the south side track, all trains will run on the north side track from 10 am Thursday through Sunday night. As a result of eastbound and westbound trains sharing a single track, there will be periodic scheduled service gaps of up to 26 minutes 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.

Express trains will be temporarily suspended on Friday mornings and PATCO will originate local trains at Haddonfield to provide maximum passenger capacity during the reduced operating windows on Thursday afternoons and Fridays. Passengers traveling eastbound to New Jersey on Thursday and Friday afternoons will benefit from the restoration of trains that begin service at the 8th and 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. 

"We regret the inconvenience this causes our passengers," said John Rink, General Manager of PATCO, "but we must move forward to complete necessary repairs and upgrades to our tracks. This complex and challenging project is a part of our ongoing role as stewards of invaluable public assets and our commitment to our core mission of providing the highest level of safety and service to our customers." 

Special Flower Show schedule
Many South Jersey residents rely on the convenience of PATCO to attend the Philadelphia Flower Show each year, so PATCO will run trains every 15 minutes, rather than every 30 minutes, for the two weekends of the Flower Show, Feb. 28-March 1 and March 7-8.

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