SEPTA sets next hearings on new Montco rail extension

KING OF PRUSSIA SEPTA has scheduled the next round of public hearings on the proposed high-speed rail extension to King of Prussia.

The project, which would extend the Norristown High-Speed Rail Line, is roughly two years into a 10-year planning and construction process.

Planners are still examining the best route for the extension. In January, SEPTA narrowed the list of options from 30 to 12, including street-level or elevated tracks along Route 202, routes following the Pennsylvania Turnpike, or another set of options using a Peco right of way.

At meetings in Norristown and King of Prussia next week, SEPTA planners will narrow the list further and announce which routes are preferred based on public input, ridership projections and cost and feasibility analysis.

The meetings are scheduled for Monday at the Radisson Hotel Valley Forge, 1160 First Avenue; and next Wednesday at the Norristown Municipal Building, 235 E. Airy Street. Both events will feature an open house from 4 to 8 p.m., with SEPTA presentations at 6:30 p.m.

- Jessica Parks