History

The North East Pennsylvania Railroad was incorporated in 1870 to build a 9.8-mile line from Abington, on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, to Hartsville. The line opened as far as Hatboro in 1872. The 2.3 mile extension to Hartsville was completed in 1874 before the railroad ran out of money. The North East Penn was leased by the North Penn. The North Penn was in turn leased for 999 years by the Philadelphia and Reading on May 14, 1879.

The resources of the Reading along with local funding enabled the completion of the entire 23.6 mile line to New Hope in 1891. The first passenger train arrived in New Hope on March 29, 1891, powered by P&R camelback #482. The first freight arrived the next day. Steam passenger service continued until 1929 when the Reading electrified the line as far as Hatboro. Passengers traveling from New Hope then had to change to an electric MU car at Hatboro for the remainder of the trip to Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. The shuttle service was frequently operated by one of the Reading's fleet of gas-electric doodlebugs. Passenger service beyond Hatboro ended on June 7, 1952. The Reading Transportation Company operated bus service to New Hope, this was later discontinued due to poor ridership.

Freight traffic declined on the line to the point where the Reading sought to abandon portions of the line in the early 1960's. On June 20, 1966, a group of railfans organized as Steam Tours, Inc., purchased the line from Ivyland to New Hope for $200,000, and the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad was formed. Steam Tours operated an excursion train between New Hope and Buckingham. The line was never financially successful, and Steam Tours sold the track to the Philadelphia Electric Company before filing for bankruptcy on June 5, 1970. The Bucks County Industrial Development Corporation then acquired the line and contracted with McHugh Brothers Heavy Hauling, Inc., to operate freight service. BCIDC also purchased an additional .9 miles of track in Warminster from the Reading.

Due to congestion and lack of parking in Hatboro, electrification was extended to Warminster and a new, modern station was constructed. SEPTA assumed operation of regular passenger service in 1976. In the late 1970's, tourist trains on the NHIR were operated by volunteers from the Buckingham Valley Trolley Association. The New Hope Steam Railway took over the operation in 1980. The line continued to decline through the 1980's and the Morristown & Erie Railroad took over freight operations from McHugh.

On October 12, 1990, the Bucks County Railroad Preservation and Restoration Corporation purchased the NHIR. The line was rebuilt and tourist operations were resumed between New Hope and Lahaska, where they continue to operate. Occasional trips have been made in the past as far as Warminster. SEPTA operates about 20 weekday passenger trains in each direction to Warminster as part of its Warminster Line service, formerly known as R2. SEPTA discontinued the use of the R2 designation on July 25, 2010.