The route serves the northwestern section of Philadelphia with service to Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill.

[2] Until 1984 Chestnut Hill East trains used the Reading Viaduct to reach Spring Garden Street and the Reading Terminal; this ended with the opening of the Center City Commuter Connection which routed the trains through the city center and on the ex-Pennsylvania Railroad part of the system.

[6] SEPTA activated positive train control on the Chestnut Hill East Line on July 25, 2016.

[9] The Chestnut Hill East line makes the following station stops after leaving the Center City Commuter Connection; stations indicated with a gray background are closed.

[6] Yearly ridership on the Chestnut Hill East Line between FY 2013–FY 2018 was steady around 1.4–1.6 million.