Man struck, killed by train in University City (SEPTA)

[AmtrakBlue]

UNIVERSITY CITY (WPVI) --
Police are investigating after a man was struck and killed by a train in University City.
It happened at 9:40 p.m. Sunday on the tracks near 31st and Market.

Investigators say the train was heading to the 30th Street Station from Trenton when the man was hit.

There was no word as to why the man was on the tracks.

The victim has not yet been identified.

SEPTA says about 100 passengers were transferred to another train.

http://6abc.com/news/man-struck-killed-by-train-in-university-city/446350/

I don't think I'm directionally challenged, but I also don't know the train routes that well. To me this does not look like where a train heading from Trenton to 30th St station would be traveling. Is it bad reporting, yet again?

 

[the_traveler]

That's what I was going to say. I think University City is between 30th Street Station and the Airport.

 

[Train2104]

I don't think I'm directionally challenged, but I also don't know the train routes that well. To me this does not look like where a train heading from Trenton to 30th St station would be traveling. Is it bad reporting, yet again?

The accident location (31 and Market) is consistent with where a train to/from Trenton would be traveling. This is nowhere near University City station.

I'm not familiar with Philly neighborhoods, but I suppose that's why it was in the title.

 

[fairviewroad]

To say it's "nowhere near the University City station" isn't quite fair. It's about a half-mile.

From that map, you can also see how a SEPTA train approaching from Trenton would be in that area. The

incident probably took place closer to "31st and JFK Blvd" but most people don't realize that JFK Blvd

includes a brief stretch west of 30th Street Station, so saying "31st and Market" is probably more meaningful

to the average TV viewer in Philly.

Also, the "University City" of the article headline is clearly meant to refer to the section of the city,

not the train station that bears that name. It is accurate to say that 31st and Market Streets lies

within the University City neighborhood.

 

[Acela150]

It's possible it was headed to West Trenton.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I wasn't disputing the neighborhood being University City. I just thought Trenton trains would be North and/or East of the station. Like I said, I'm not familiar with the routes - except mine (between Center City and Newark, DE)

 

[fairviewroad]

I wasn't disputing the neighborhood being University City. I just thought Trenton trains would be North and/or East of the station. Like I said, I'm not familiar with the routes - except mine (between Center City and Newark, DE)

I hear ya...I was responding to other posters who questioned whether it was accurate to say this happened near University City.

30th Street is a tangle of tracks and you're right, it's not intuitive to think that a Trenton train would be west of the station. But if you look

at the track layout in this link, you'll notice a set of tracks that curve down and to the right into the upper level (SEPTA level) of 30th Street.

That's where the Trenton trains come in from. If you follow them north, they rejoin the main Amtrak NEC tracks just north of the station. That's

how it happens that a Trenton train is west of 30th Street even though it eventually heads north and east from Philadelphia.

The SEPTA system map actually depicts it in a way that's easy to see. It's worth noting that trains to "West Trenton" actually leave 30th Street

heading east bound, and then cross the NEC tracks in the vicinity of North Philadelphia.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

30th Street is a maze of tracks but it was pretty easy for me to figure out after basically seeing them as a cross, where you have the Amtrak tracks going straight underneath north-south and the SEPTA Regional Rail tracks swinging wide and looping to meet overhead, north-south. Kinda like a pretzel IMO.