Image courtesy of SEPTA Facebook
For riders on SEPTA’s West Trenton Line, the coming month will mean a series of weekend detours and delays as the agency presses forward with the Bethayres Interlocking Project — a major investment aimed at untangling a notorious bottleneck and improving reliability for years to come.
Starting September 20 and continuing across five consecutive weekends, crews will work between Bethayres Station and Red Lion Road, first raising track profiles and later drilling deep foundations for new switches and signals. The schedule runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday, wrapping up on October 19.
What This Means for Commuters
For weekend travelers, the most immediate change will be single-track service. Trains will share one track at nine stations, from Noble to Neshaminy Falls, forcing all boarding and exiting onto the inbound platforms only.
The result: tighter schedules, slower speeds through the work zone, and a greater likelihood of delays. Regular riders should plan for longer trips, while occasional weekend passengers may want to allow themselves some extra buffer time.
SEPTA will post signs at each station, but riders are encouraged to check service alerts online before heading out.
A Noisy but Necessary Upgrade
The work itself won’t go unnoticed in the surrounding neighborhoods. Crews will be dumping tons of stone and ballast along the tracks, producing a steady rumble comparable to street utility work. Later in October, heavy drilling and vegetation clearing will shift the noise north of Red Lion Road.
While inconvenient, the project is designed with the future in mind. The new interlocking will give dispatchers more options to move trains around construction zones, reducing the risk of major backups during other capital projects — including the upcoming accessibility overhaul at Jenkintown Station.
The Bigger Picture
For SEPTA, the Bethayres work is part of a broader push to modernize its aging Regional Rail infrastructure. For passengers, it means a handful of weekends marked by rerouted foot traffic, slower rides, and construction noise. But the long-term payoff, the agency says, will be smoother operations and fewer headaches when bigger projects hit the schedule.
