30th Street Station is always a winner - it has benches unlike New York’s Penn Station, it’s got lovely architecture and some good public art, a flower stand and a food court, and the men’s room is functional and not too daunting (even though I’ve never seen any murders there. Hollywood lies.) I scored a not-terribly-good burrito and wolfed it on my way to the SEPTA Regional Rail platforms.
SEPTA Train 727
Philadelphia, PA to Trenton, NJ
Fare: $9.25
Cumulative Fare: $59.73
We left six minutes late, pulled out to just past the platforms, and stopped dead. After a while, we were moving again, but desultorily, and with a few more stops between stations. I wondered if I’d make the 20-minute connection in Trenton, but at least the trains are reasonably frequent for this part of the trip. It felt like I was getting closer to home.
We passed the Philadelphia Museum of Art, crossed the Schuylkill, and I could even see the construction cranes where they were repairing the I-95 bridge that had recently collapsed. We began to pick up some speed, getting up to about 80mph briefly between Torresdale and Cornwells Heights. I always think of the Bristol Stomp when I go through Bristol (where they make the very nice Dad’s Hat Rye.)
A passing Acela put me in mind of “Folsom Prison Blues":
And of course, the Bridge of Petulance made its appearance before we arrived 16 minutes late into the Trenton Transit Center, which left me four minutes until my next train’s scheduled departure.