SEPTA Metro

Last updated
SEPTA Metro
SEPTA Metro text.svg
MarketFrankfordLineTrain.jpg
SEPTA Broad Street Subway car at Race-Vine.jpg
SEPTA N-5.jpg
SEPTA9001.jpg
Rt 102 at Sharon Hill.JPG
Route 15 PCC.jpg
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
Number of lines6
Headquarters1234 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Website wwww.septa.org/metro/
Operation
Infrastructure manager(s)
Technical
System length78 mi (126 km)
Track gauge
  • 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
  • 5 ft 2+12 in (1,588 mm) Pennsylvania trolley gauge

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.

Contents

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.

History

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]

Lines

SEPTA Metro lines
Line nameTypeService patternsTerminal stationsAverage weekday ridership (FY 2023) [12]
South/WestNorth/East
SEPTA B icon.svg (Broad Street Line) Rapid transit SEPTA B1 icon.svg Local NRG Fern Rock Transit Center 79,155
SEPTA B2 icon.svg Express Walnut–Locust
NRG (limited)
SEPTA B3 icon.svg Spur 8th–Market
SEPTA D icon.svg (Media–Sharon Hill Line) Trolley SEPTA D1 icon.svg Route 101 Orange Street / Media 69th Street Transit Center 2,023
SEPTA D2 icon.svg Route 102 Chester Pike / Sharon Hill 2,097
SEPTA G icon.svg (Route 15 Trolley) Trolley SEPTA G1 icon.svg All Stops63rd–Girard Richmond–Westmoreland 4,762
SEPTA L icon.svg (Market–Frankford Line) Rapid transit SEPTA L1 icon.svg All Stops 69th Street Transit Center Frankford Transit Center 107,651
SEPTA M icon.svg (Norristown High Speed Line) Light rapid transit SEPTA M1 icon.svg Local 69th Street Transit Center Norristown Transit Center 4,510
SEPTA T icon.svg (subway–surface trolleys) Subway/surface SEPTA T1 icon.svg (Route 10) 63rd–Malvern / Overbrook 13th Street 5,396
SEPTA T2 icon.svg (Route 34) 61st–Baltimore / Angora 6,225
SEPTA T3 icon.svg (Route 13) Yeadon
Darby Transit Center (limited)
6,503
SEPTA T4 icon.svg (Route 11) Darby Transit Center 6,669
SEPTA T5 icon.svg (Route 36) 80th Street–Eastwick 7,101

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norristown High Speed Line</span> Interurban rapid transit line in Philadelphia

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad Street Line</span> Subway line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market–Frankford Line</span> SEPTA rapid transit line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEPTA Routes 101 and 102</span> Light rail lines in Delaware County, Pennsylvania

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">69th Street Transportation Center</span> Rapid transit station in Philadelphia

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines</span> Philadelphia trolley lines

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEPTA Route 15</span> SEPTA trolley line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">15th Street station (SEPTA)</span> Rapid transit station in Philadelphia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEPTA Route 11</span> Philadelphia trolley line

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEPTA Route 13</span> Philadelphia trolley line

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEPTA Route 34</span> Trolley line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEPTA Route 36</span> Philadelphia trolley line

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEPTA Route 10</span> Philadelphia trolley line

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">13th Street station (SEPTA)</span> Rapid transit station in Philadelphia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">40th Street station (Market–Frankford Line)</span> Rapid transit station in Philadelphia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drexel Station at 30th Street</span> Rapid transit station in Philadelphia

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roosevelt Boulevard Subway</span> Proposed subway line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Roosevelt Boulevard Subway is a proposed SEPTA subway line that would run along Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

References

Notes

  1. Network mileage is calculated from one-way route mileage listed under "LRV" [41 miles (66 km)], "NHSL" [13 miles (21 km)], "MFSE" 13 miles (21 km), and "BSS" [11 miles (18 km)] [1]

Citations

  1. "SEPTA Operating Facts: Fiscal Year 2019" (PDF). SEPTA. 2019. p. 5.
  2. Chang, David (September 7, 2021). "The SEPTA Metro? L Lines and B Lines? SEPTA Proposes New Signage and Name Changes". NBC10 Philadelphia. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  3. "SEPTA Proposing Series Of Changes Aimed To Make System Easier For Riders, Including Name Change To 'Metro'". CBS News. September 9, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Saunders, Brian A. (November 14, 2023). "SEPTA to update transit lines with simpler, more consistent signage". PhillyVoice. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Wayfinding Recommendations". SEPTA. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  6. Fitzgerald, Thomas (September 7, 2021). "SEPTA proposes renaming its city rail lines to help everyone get around". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  7. "Design Concept Feedback". planning.septa.org. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  8. "Philadelphia's transit agency launches revamped website ahead of transition to 'SEPTA Metro'". 6abc Philadelphia. December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  9. Lynch, Cherise (December 6, 2023). "SEPTA set to launch new user-friendly website". NBC10 Philadelphia. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  10. Lutz, Chandler (November 14, 2023). "SEPTA Metro aims to make Philadelphia's public transportation system easier to use". CBS News. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  11. Fitzgerald, Thomas (February 14, 2024). "SEPTA's first signs of 'Metro' rebranding have arrived". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  12. SEPTA Data Group. "Route Operating Statistics: Fiscal Year 2023". Tableau Software . Retrieved June 3, 2024.