Backyards on SEPTA lines and PECO rights-of-way

Where the tracks run behind back yards

Lansdale grew up around the North Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1850s, and North Wales grew after the line arrived in 1857. Today SEPTA’s Lansdale/Doylestown Line runs through the middle of our area, and the Warminster and West Trenton lines cross the eastern townships. Stations with residential streets around them include:

• Lansdale Borough: three stops, at Lansdale, Pennbrook and 9th Street.
• Hatfield Township: Fortuna, Colmar and Link Belt.
• North Wales, Lower Gwynedd and Ambler: North Wales station, Gwynedd Valley and Penllyn, then Ambler, a major park-and-ride.
• Upper Dublin: the line passes through without a stop.
• Abington and Cheltenham: North Hills, Crestmont, Roslyn, Ardsley, Meadowbrook, Rydal and Noble in Abington, and Glenside, Elkins Park and Melrose Park in Cheltenham, spread across several lines.
• Jenkintown: Jenkintown-Wyncote station, the busiest Regional Rail station outside Philadelphia, serves the Lansdale/Doylestown, Warminster and West Trenton lines.

In Willow Grove, the Warminster Line stops at Willow Grove station, and Norfolk Southern’s Morrisville Line freight railroad runs along the Turnpike through Upper Moreland.

How tall can a fence be along the tracks?

Only one code we’ve read has a railroad-specific rule, and it’s a generous one. Everywhere else, a fence on the rail side of your lot follows the ordinary side or rear yard limit.

Checked October 2026 against the zoning codes listed under Sources.

Lansdale’s rule makes sense on a borough lot backing onto a busy line: an 8 ft solid fence blocks the view of the trains and the platforms. Along the Ambler, Glenside or Jenkintown stretches, a 6 ft privacy fence plus a planted screen is usually the most you can do. A fence is a visual screen first; don’t expect it to make a passing train quiet.

Find the real property line before you build

Rail corridors are old, and the line between your yard and the railroad often isn’t where the old fence, hedge or mowed edge suggests. Building on railroad land isn’t just a zoning problem; it’s someone else’s property, and a busy one.

• In Abington, any fence on or within 5 ft of a property line needs a building permit backed by evidence of a boundary survey, unless the building official can readily establish the line.
• In Cheltenham, a fence may sit up to 5 ft inside the line if the line is clearly established and you keep the outside strip accessible and maintained.
• In Montgomery Township, boundary fences sit at least 2 in inside the line, within 5 ft of it.

We build from your side of the line, set the fence inside your property, and leave any railroad fence that’s already there alone.

PECO rights-of-way: a license, not just a permit

PECO transmission corridors cross parts of our area; Horsham’s Power Line Trail runs along one. Where a PECO right-of-way crosses your lot, PECO’s guidelines treat fencing as a "restricted" use. You’d need a PECO license, which PECO decides within 90 days, and that license also needs approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Sheds, pools, playsets and trampolines are not acceptable uses on the right-of-way at all.

Pools have a second rule in some townships. Abington, for example, doesn’t allow a pool within 10 vertical ft of power lines. If your back yard is under a line, plan the pool and its barrier around it before choosing a spot. Most of Lansdale Borough, by the way, is served by borough-owned Lansdale Electric rather than PECO.

Ordinary utility easements behind the house

Even without tracks or towers, many lots here have a sewer, storm or utility easement along the rear line. The township rules for fences in easements differ:

• Towamencin: no fence in any easement, detention or retention basin, or the ultimate right-of-way; a fence in an easement needs the easement owner’s written consent.
• Montgomery Township: fences in easements are discouraged, and allowed only with a signed fence easement agreement, an easily removable design and an extra fee.
• Hatfield: no fence in an easement benefiting the township without written permission.
• Lansdale Borough: failing to disclose easements on the fence application voids the approval.

Easements show up on your deed, your plot plan or a survey. Utilities in them get marked through PA One Call, which we request at least 3 business days before digging.

Choosing a fence for a rail-side yard

• For screening: 6 ft vinyl, cedar or board-on-board privacy. In Lansdale, an 8 ft solid fence on the railroad line is allowed, but at that height wind load climbs, so the posts need to be heavier and set deeper than for a 6 ft fence.
• For kids and dogs: what matters most is a continuous barrier with no gap at the bottom and a self-closing gate, so nobody wanders toward the tracks.
• For a long, plain rear line: vinyl-coated chain link is economical and lasts. In Upper Moreland, chain link must be vinyl-coated anyway.
• No gate onto the corridor. A gate that opens onto railroad or PECO land invites a shortcut across property that isn’t yours.

If your yard backs onto tracks or power lines, mention it when you book the free estimate. We’ll check the line, the easements and the height your municipality allows before we draw the fence.

Common questions