Weekend rail construction disrupts SEPTA R5 service between Colmar and Doylestown, shuttle buses provided

The Lansdale/Doylestown SEPTA regional rail line will be disrupted due to construction this weekend and shuttle buttles will operate between the Colmar and Doylestown stations for the entire weekend, SEPTA announced this week.

The construction will take place on the tracks between South Sand Road and South Shady Retreat Road near New Britain Station in Montgomery and Bucks counties.

PECO subcontractor Empower will be removing PECO facilities and top 26 consecutive PECO poles adjacent to the Doylestown line, according to SEPTA. Empower will work from 11 p.m. Friday through 4 a.m. Monday, or until restoration is complete.

The work is to prepare the transfer of ownership of poles from PECO to Verizon, per SEPTA.

SEPTA said any work not completed within the weekend timeframe will be completed during the nightly last train and first train outages during the weeks following the weekend outage.

During full-service days on Saturday and Sunday, train service will operate as normal between Center City and Colmar, per SEPTA. Shuttle buses will run between Colmar and Doylestown for the duration of the weekend, SEPTA said.

Shuttle buses CANNOT access 9^th Street Station in Lansdale, Colmar, New Britain or Del Val stations due to inaccessibility. Thus, SEPTA has established temporary bus stops close to each station. Signage will be posted directing passengers to the temporary stops.

There is no weekend service to Link Belt station.

For inbound bus service to Center City, SEPTA said shuttle buses will depart Doylestown station 15 minutes earlier than normal and will make all stops to Colmar. Once at Colmar, passengers need to transfer to the train for continued service to Center City. Trains depart four minutes after shuttle buses arrive to Colmar. SEPTA recommends commuters add 20 minutes to travel time.

The final Doylestown station shuttle bus departs at 9:32 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

For outbound bus service to Doylestown, SEPTA said a connecting shuttle bus departs four minutes after train arrival for continued service to Doylestown. Passengers should add 10 minutes to travel times, SEPTA said.