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PATCO to run fewer trains, close some stations overnight

PATCO says the change will improve security and put a police officer on every overnight train; some riders are not happy.

A Philadelphia-bound PATCO train on the Ben Franklin Bridge in the early morning hours.
A Philadelphia-bound PATCO train on the Ben Franklin Bridge in the early morning hours.Read moreALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer

PATCO will run fewer trains and close seven stations under a new overnight schedule that will put a police officer on each train starting Monday, May 13.

Under the new weekday owl schedule, trains will operate every 60 minutes instead of every 45 minutes between midnight and 4:30 a.m.

Trains will stop at all stations except one — 9th/10th and Locust — between midnight and 1 a.m. Between 1 and 4:30 a.m., trains will only stop at the Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue, Broadway, 8th and Market, and 15th/16th and Locust Stations. The Ashland, Haddonfield, Westmont, Collingswood, City Hall, 9th/10th and Locust, and 12th/13th and Locust stations will be closed.

On weekends, trains will operate every 45 minutes and make stops at all stations except 9/10th and Locust between midnight and 2 a.m. After that, trains will run every 60 minutes and only stop at Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue, Broadway, 8th and Market, and 15th/16th and Locust while the other stations will be closed.

Weekend trains will resume making all station stops starting with the 4:30 departure from the 15th/16th and Locust Streets station and the 5 a.m. departure out of Lindenwold.

PATCO said a police officer will be on every train operating on the owl schedule. The new schedule can be found on PATCO’s website.

“There’s safety in numbers; having more riders together on trains and in stations provides greater security and better police coverage,” John L. Stief, chief of the joint Delaware River Port Authority/PATCO Police Department, said in a statement. “We evaluated ways to increase our police presence throughout the system during the owl hours. These service modifications allow us to do just that.”

The initial reaction from riders on social media was negative, with some complaining about the short notice for the schedule change and warning that late-night partygoers might find themselves passing through a station where they had parked their cars hours earlier.