PATCO extends hand to SEPTA The two agencies could join forces in a plan for commuter rail service on the Phila. waterfront.

New proposals for extending commuter rail service along the Philadelphia waterfront envision an unprecedented alliance between the regional transit agencies PATCO and SEPTA.

PATCO, the Camden-based agency that operates the 14-mile rail line between Philadelphia and Lindenwold, wants to expand service along Columbus Boulevard and perhaps to City Hall. It proposes reopening the long-closed Franklin Square station beneath Sixth and Race Streets to serve as the hub of the expanded service.

Any new service, which would depend on federal financial help, is probably at least $1 billion and eight to 10 years away, PATCO officials said yesterday as they unveiled three route alternatives. Public meetings on the proposals are set for next week.

PATCO could build the lines and SEPTA, the Philadelphia-based agency, could operate the service, suggested John J. Matheussen, president of PATCO and chief executive officer of its parent, the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA).

Passengers "don't care whether it's SEPTA or PATCO or New Jersey Transit," Matheussen said. "What they want is clean, efficient, safe transportation. It's time government handles itself in the same way."

SEPTA has a seat on the project's technical advisory committee, and SEPTA spokesman Jim Whitaker said: "We are working with [PATCO] on the plans."

The economic development of the waterfront on both sides of the Delaware River is part of the DRPA's mission. It sees a PATCO expansion in Philadelphia as a way to improve access to the waterfront and increase employment, residential, entertainment and shopping opportunities.

The proposed routes are:

PA-1. From Franklin Square to Columbus Boulevard, where a light-rail or trolley line would run along Columbus Boulevard north to Penn Treaty Park and south to Pier 70. The route would provide access to the planned SugarHouse and Foxwoods casinos along the Delaware River.

PA-1 Extended. Same as above, with an underground line to City Hall from Franklin Square to connect with SEPTA's subway-surface lines. That would require tunneling under about 12 blocks and the Convention Center.

PA-2. A light-rail or trolley line along Columbus Boulevard that would connect with a new route under or along Market Street to City Hall, connecting with existing SEPTA subway-surface lines.

A partnership between SEPTA and PATCO would avoid a battle for the same pool of federal money for transit projects in the region.