Doesn’t that just make you disappointed, in the fact that they had a system, if used properly and streamlined for the future, it would have given people transportation to work, and into the city....where no one drives.
I think they had eliminated some of the stops along the way to Bethlehem, Quaker town, Reading etc...meaning less riders. If you don’t stop there, then the loss of use means less revenue. I think closing the train stations could have happened without losing the use of the platform for basic stops early morning and late evening, don’t you?
I left up there mid-70s...but I used to take the train to Philly and other places back then. I loved it. However it goes back to who understands how to make the right changes to preserve the service....evidently no one knew what to do.
The road situation isn’t all that much better. PA route 309 is wider than it used to be, but it’s quite jammed going through Quakertown. Forget about route 611. What is now I-476 is out of the way and itself subject to long tailbacks.
The railroad between Quakertown and Bethlehem has been rail-trailed; those have no economic value, and some of those are becoming havens for muggers. (Yes, there is no railroad connecting Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley anymore; trains have to go the long way via Reading.) I won’t even get into the folly of closing down the steel plant.
Nope, public transportation is impractical in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles because they are spread out over hundred of square miles. Trains are practicla only in compact cities like in Europe.