Owned by Amtrak Platforms 2 side platforms Opened 1880 Added to NRHP 1984 | Operated by SEPTA Parking 229 spaces (daily) Owner Amtrak Tracks 3 | |
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Location 1597 South Whitford Road and Spackmans Lane, Exton, PA 19341 USA Line(s) Keystone Corridor (Main Line)
Paoli/Thorndale Line Address West Whiteland Township, PA 19380, United States Similar Daylesford station, Exton station, Thorndale station, Downingtown station, Berwyn station | ||
Amtrak pennsylvanians at whitford station exton pa 3 11 12
Whitford station is a commuter rail and former intercity passenger rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia at South Whitford Road and Spackman Lane, Exton, Pennsylvania. It is served by most SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line trains and until 1998 some of Amtrak's Keystone Service trains.
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Whitford Flyover
Whitford station is best known for the abandoned railway trestle that sits directly above the station site. The current station sits along the once-busy former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) four-track Main Line, which, in its prime, hosted a constant flow of commuter and long distance trains. To circumvent constant bottlenecks near Philadelphia, the PRR constructed a low-grade double-track electrified line in 1906 to host its freight traffic. This was done to bypass the steep grades and busy Philadelphia suburbs. Known as the Philadelphia and Thorndale Branch (or the "High Line"), the line ran alongside the current Paoli/Thorndale Line, crossing (or "flying") over it via a massive trestle directly above the Whitford Station. After the sharp decline in rail traffic in the 1970s, the freight line was abandoned outright by Conrail in 1989. In addition, the current passenger line was reduced from four tracks to three in the 1960s.
In its heyday, the PRR produced a series of calendars that included paintings of scenes throughout the extensive rail system. Artist Grif Teller captured a busy moment at Whitford in his "Main Lines—Freight and Passenger" painting from 1949, when the overhead trestle was still in use.
Current station
On August 2, 1984, the station house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There is no ticket office at the station. There are 229 parking spaces at the station for daily parking, some of which sit on the abandoned freight line that crosses over the station site.
This station is 28.7 track miles from Philadelphia's Suburban Station. In 2011, the average total weekday boardings at this station was 323, and the average total weekday alightings was 315.