SEPTA ending A/B stops on the Market-Frankford Line

There’s no longer a need to worry if you get on “A” or “B” stops on the Market-Frankford Line. 

SEPTA is finally ending its skip-stop service on the Market-Frankford Line during rush hour, according to Inquirer.com. 

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch confirmed that starting on Feb.23, all trains will stop at all stations. It was reported that the decision was made last week, and it was to address the wait time at stations. 

Busch told the outlet that the east side of that line has seen a significant surge in riders within the past few years. The surge comes from more commuters taking residence in both Fishtown and Kensington. 

At the moment, eight stations are A or B, which are skilled by every other train during peak times. Inquirer.com reports that those are Berks, York-Dauphin, Huntingdon, Somerset, Tioga, and Church; on the west are 63rd and Millbourne. 

The change in the stops will also have additional scheduling changes to help improve the frequency of the trains.

SEPTA has not announced these changes yet, but they are expected to be announced within the next couple of weeks. The new schedule will also focus on making sure trains do not get overcrowded.

SEPTA says they studied the impacts of shortening skip-stop service in spring 2018. The response recorded was positive. 

“The pilot program was helpful in demonstrating that we could provide all-stop service without impacting service quality for our customers,” Busch told Whyy.org. 

It was reported that A-B goes back into the 20th century, and it was a means to distribute passengers, to prevent overcrowding and to keep a longer time frame for passengers to board.