SEPTA Metro | |
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Clockwise from top left: Trains on L, B, T, G, D, and M lines | |
Overview | |
Owner | SEPTA |
Area served | Philadelphia, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties, Pennsylvania |
Locale | Delaware Valley |
Transit type |
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Number of lines | 6 |
Headquarters | 1234 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Website | wwww |
Operation | |
Infrastructure manager(s) |
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Technical | |
System length | 78 mi (126 km) |
Track gauge |
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SEPTA Metro is an urban rail transit network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and its suburbs, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). The network includes two rapid transit lines, a light rapid transit line, a surface-running trolley line, and a subway–surface trolley line, totaling 78 miles (126 km) [lower-alpha 1] of rail service.
Although SEPTA began operations in 1965, and its metro lines date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, the overall network has no formal name until SEPTA Metro was first proposed in 2021 to make the system easier to navigate. Introduction of the new line naming conventions began in early 2024, which will ultimately rename each line to a single letter, with a number accompanied to each letter to denote its service pattern. Once the rebranding is complete, the Broad Street Line, Media–Sharon Hill Line, Route 15, Market–Frankford Line, Norristown High Speed Line, and subway–surface trolleys will be referred to as the B, D, G, L, M, and T, respectively.
In September 2021, SEPTA proposed rebranding their rail transit services, the Market–Frankford Line, Broad Street Line, subway–surface trolley lines, Norristown High-Speed Line, Route 15 trolley, and Routes 101 and 102 trolleys) as the "SEPTA Metro", in order to make the system easier to navigate. [2] [3]
Under this proposal, new maps, station signage, and line designations would be created. Under the proposed nomenclature, trunk lines would receive a letter and a color, with services having a numeric suffix and service name, to make wayfinding easier. [4] Services on the current Market–Frankford Line, for instance, would be called the "L Lines" and colored blue, with local service becoming the "L1 Market–Frankford Local".
Services along the current Broad Street Line would become the "B Lines" and colored orange, with local service becoming the "B1 Broad Street Local". [5] The express service would become the "B2 Broad Street Express", the special service would become the "B2 Express Sports Special", and spur service would become the "B3 Broad–Ridge Express".
Services along the current subway–surface, Norristown High-Speed Line, Route 15 trolley, and Routes 101 and 102 suburban trolley trunk would become the "T Lines", "M Lines", "G Lines", and "D Lines" respectively. [5] SEPTA budgeted $40 million to June 2023 for the rebranding. [6]
In March 2022, SEPTA revised the SEPTA Metro proposal based on feedback from a 2 month-long outreach period between September and October 2021. The amended proposal involved describing each lettered service by the word "Line" rather than "Lines". Special service along the Broad Street Line would become part of the "B2 Broad Street Express", with service being differentiated by their end terminals. As part of the proposal, the roll-out of real-time information was stated as a priority. [7] Stations with shared names would also be renamed to avoid confusion. [4] SEPTA upgraded its website in late 2023, [8] [9] in advance of the planned rollout of SEPTA Metro in 2024. [10] The first pieces of updated signage were installed at Drexel Station at 30th Street in February 2024. [11]
Line name | Type | Service patterns | Terminal stations | Average weekday ridership (FY 2023) [12] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
South/West | North/East | ||||
(Broad Street Line) | Rapid transit | Local | NRG | Fern Rock Transit Center | 79,155 |
Express | Walnut–Locust NRG (limited) | ||||
Spur | 8th–Market | ||||
(Media–Sharon Hill Line) | Trolley | Route 101 | Orange Street / Media | 69th Street Transit Center | 2,023 |
Route 102 | Chester Pike / Sharon Hill | 2,097 | |||
(Route 15 Trolley) | Trolley | All Stops | 63rd–Girard | Richmond–Westmoreland | 4,762 |
(Market–Frankford Line) | Rapid transit | All Stops | 69th Street Transit Center | Frankford Transit Center | 107,651 |
(Norristown High Speed Line) | Light rapid transit | Local | 69th Street Transit Center | Norristown Transit Center | 4,510 |
(subway–surface trolleys) | Subway/surface | (Route 10) | 63rd–Malvern / Overbrook | 13th Street | 5,396 |
(Route 34) | 61st–Baltimore / Angora | 6,225 | |||
(Route 13) | Yeadon Darby Transit Center (limited) | 6,503 | |||
(Route 11) | Darby Transit Center | 6,669 | |||
(Route 36) | 80th Street–Eastwick | 7,101 |
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people in five counties in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It also manages projects that maintain, replace and expand its infrastructure, facilities and vehicles.
The Norristown High Speed Line is a 13.4-mile (21.6 km) interurban light rapid transit line operated by SEPTA, running between the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby and the Norristown Transportation Center in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Originally the Philadelphia and Western Railroad line, the line runs entirely on its own right-of-way. By 2020, the Norristown High Speed Line had an average weekday ridership approaching 11,000 passengers.
The Broad Street Line (BSL), also known as the Broad Street subway (BSS), Orange Line, or Broad Line, is a subway line owned by the city of Philadelphia and operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). The line runs primarily north-south from the Fern Rock Transportation Center in North Philadelphia through Center City Philadelphia to NRG station at Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia; the latter station provides access to the stadiums and arenas for the city's major professional sports teams at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, about a quarter mile away. It is named for Broad Street, under which the line runs for almost its entire length. In 2024, as part of the SEPTA Metro plan, the Broad Street Line is undergoing a rebrand to the service letter B.
The Market–Frankford Line (MFL), currently rebranding as the L, is a rapid transit line in the SEPTA Metro network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The MFL runs from the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby, just outside of West Philadelphia, through Center City Philadelphia to the Frankford Transportation Center in Near Northeast Philadelphia. Starting in 2024, the line was rebranded as the "L" as part of the implementation of SEPTA Metro, wherein line names are simplified to a single letter.
Transportation in Philadelphia involves the various modes of transport within the city and its required infrastructure. In addition to facilitating intracity travel, Philadelphia's transportation system connects Philadelphia to towns of its metropolitan area and surrounding areas within the Northeast megalopolis.
SEPTA Routes 101 and 102 are light rail lines operated by the Suburban Transit Division of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, serving portions of Delaware County. The route's eastern terminus is 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. Route 101 runs to Media, while Route 102 goes to Sharon Hill. Altogether, the two lines operate on approximately 11.9 miles (19.2 km) of route. The lines are one of the few remaining interurban systems in the United States, along with the South Shore Line in Indiana, the River Line in New Jersey, and the Norristown High Speed Line, also in the Philadelphia area.
The 69th Street Transportation Center is a SEPTA terminal in the Terminal Square section of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It serves the Market–Frankford Line, Norristown High Speed Line, and SEPTA Routes 101 and 102 trolleys, and multiple bus routes. It is located at the end of 69th Street, a major retail corridor in Upper Darby Township across Market Street from the Tower Theater. Until 2011, the station was primarily known as 69th Street Terminal.
The SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines are a collection of five SEPTA trolley lines that operate on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and also underneath Market Street in Philadelphia's Center City. The lines, Routes 10, 11, 13, 34, and 36, collectively operate on about 39.6 miles (63.7 km) of route.
Route 15, also known as the Girard Avenue Trolley, is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) along Girard Avenue through North and West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2007, it is the only surface trolley line in the City Transit Division that is not part of the Subway–Surface Trolley Lines. SEPTA PCC II vehicles are used on the line.
15th Street station is a subway station in Philadelphia. It is served by SEPTA's Market–Frankford Line and all routes of the subway–surface trolley lines. A free interchange also provides access to the Broad Street Line at City Hall station, which is connected to 15th Street by the Downtown Link underground concourse. The concourse also connects to Regional Rail lines at Suburban Station. It is the busiest station on the Market–Frankford Line, with 29,905 boardings on an average weekday.
Route 11, also known as the Woodland Avenue Line, is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects the 13th Street station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Darby Transportation Center in Darby, Pennsylvania. It is one of five lines that are part of the subway–surface trolley system. Sitting at an average of 13,580 riders per weekday in 2019, it is the most used subway-surface trolley route, even though it lacks overnight service. This route will be rebranded as the T4 as part of the transition to SEPTA Metro.
SEPTA Route 13, also known as the Chester Avenue Line, is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects 13th Street Station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Yeadon and Darby, Pennsylvania. It is one of five lines that are part of the Subway-Surface Trolley system. Route 13 will be rebranded as the T3 as part of the transition to SEPTA Metro.
SEPTA's subway–surface trolley route 34, also called the Baltimore Avenue subway line, is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects the 13th Street station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the Angora Loop station in the Angora neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Route 34 will be rebranded as the T2 as part of the transition to SEPTA Metro.
SEPTA's Subway-Surface Trolley Route 36 is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects the 13th Street station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the Eastwick Loop station in Eastwick section of Southwest Philadelphia, although limited service is available to the Elmwood Carhouse. It is the longest of the five lines that are part of the Subway-Surface Trolley system, and was even longer between 1956 and 1962 when the western terminus was at 94th Street and Eastwick Avenue. From 1962 through the 1970s, it was at 88th Street and Eastwick Avenue, making the route 16.2 miles (26.1 km) long. Since 1975, it only goes as far as what was once 80th Street at the southern edge of the Penrose Plaza shopping center parking lot. Route 36 will be rebranded as the T5 as part of the transition to SEPTA Metro.
SEPTA Route 10, also known as the Lancaster Avenue Line, to be known as the T1 after rebrand, is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects the 13th Street station in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the 63rd Street–Malvern Avenue station in the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia. It is one out of five lines that is part of the SEPTA's subway–surface trolley system and is 11.6 mi (18.7 km) long. It is the least used subway-surface trolley line, but unlike Route 11, the most used subway-surface trolley line, it has overnight service.
13th Street station is a SEPTA subway station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, located under Market Street between 13th and Juniper Streets in Center City. The station serves the Market–Frankford Line and is the eastern terminal station for all five routes of the subway–surface trolley lines.
40th Street station is an underground station on the SEPTA Market-Frankford Line, located the intersection of 40th Street and Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the line between the Spruce Hill and Powelton Village neighborhoods in the University City District of West Philadelphia. The station serves a major shopping corridor of West Philadelphia on 40th Street, as well as the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, which lies three blocks south of the station.
Drexel Station at 30th Street is an underground SEPTA Metro station in Philadelphia. It is located on Market Street between 30th and 31st Streets in the University City neighborhood, adjacent to 30th Street Station and Drexel University. The station features four tracks – the inner pair serving the L and the outer pair for the T.
SEPTA's Trolley Route 60, the Allegheny Avenue Line is a former streetcar line and current bus route, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Northwest and Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It connects to the East Falls to the Port Richmond, and runs primarily along Allegheny Avenue.
The Roosevelt Boulevard Subway is a proposed SEPTA subway line that would run along Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.