The West Philadelphia Passenger Railway was an early commuter rail that opened on July 2, 1858. [1] Initially tracks ran from 3rd Street to 41st street along Market Street. [1] Tracks ran over the Permanent Bridge that was completed in 1887. [1] [2] Passengers were transported by "horse-drawn omnibuses". [1] The railway was the second street railway to be chartered in Philadelphia when it was chartered on April 28, 1857. [3] Portions of the railway leading to Darby followed a route similar to that of SEPTA's Route 11 today. [3] People of color were not allowed to use the railways until an Act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1867; however, they were permitted to stand on the platform with the driver. [3]
The Reading Company was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976.
A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when the introduction of the electric trolley or streetcar allowed the nation’s burgeoning middle class to move beyond the central city’s borders. Early suburbs were served by horsecars, but by the late 19th century cable cars and electric streetcars, or trams, were used, allowing residences to be built farther away from the urban core of a city. Streetcar suburbs, usually called additions or extensions at the time, were the forerunner of today's suburbs in the United States and Canada. San Francisco's Western Addition is one of the best examples of streetcar suburbs before westward and southward expansion occurred.
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana. The line's trackage remains a major rail transportation corridor used by Amtrak passenger trains and several freight lines; in 1998, its ownership was split at Cleveland, Ohio, between CSX Transportation to the east and Norfolk Southern Railway in the west.
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and the SEPTA Media/Wawa Line to the south. An alternate definition includes all city land west of the Schuylkill; this would also include Southwest Philadelphia and its neighborhoods. The eastern side of West Philadelphia is also known as University City.
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.
The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. Headquartered in Philadelphia, it was greatly enlarged in 1838 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Mid-Atlantic states to create a single line between Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Route 15, also known as the Girard Avenue Trolley, is a trolley line operated by 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 III vehicles are used on the line.
Streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the city and region from 1862 until 1962.
The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad in the United States connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O).
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.
Blockley Township was a township that was located in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Incorporated in 1704, the township was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia under the 1854 Act of Consolidation.
The Baltimore Pike was an auto trail connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The City Transit Division of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) operate almost all of Philadelphia's public transit, including all six trolley, three trackless trolley, and 70 bus lines within city limits. Some of the bordering municipalities are served by the City Transit division, despite not being part of the city. For example, Cheltenham Township has 13 city division routes and no Suburban Division ones. The City Transit division also operates the 400 Series routes which are designed to serve students attending schools in the city of Philadelphia.
The Cumberland Valley Railroad was an early railroad in Pennsylvania, United States, originally chartered in 1831 to connect with Pennsylvania's Main Line of Public Works. Freight and passenger service in the Cumberland Valley in south central Pennsylvania from near Harrisburg to Chambersburg began in 1837, with service later extended to Hagerstown, Maryland, and then extending into the Shenandoah Valley to Winchester, Virginia. It employed up to 1,800 workers.
U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a United States Numbered Highway running from Fayetteville, North Carolina, north to Morrisville, Pennsylvania. The route runs for 49.359 miles (79.436 km) through the Delaware Valley in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route enters the state from Delaware in Marcus Hook, Delaware County. It continues northeast through Delaware County, passing through the city of Chester before heading through suburban areas along Chester Pike to Darby. US 13 enters the city of Philadelphia on Baltimore Avenue and runs through West Philadelphia to University City, where it turns north along several city streets before heading east across the Schuylkill River along Girard Avenue. The route turns north and heads to North Philadelphia, where it runs northeast along Hunting Park Avenue. US 13 becomes concurrent with US 1 on Roosevelt Boulevard, continuing into Northeast Philadelphia. US 13 splits southeast on a one-way pair of streets before heading northeast out of the city on Frankford Avenue. The route continues into Bucks County as Bristol Pike, heading northeast to Bristol, where it becomes a divided highway. US 13 becomes a freeway in Tullytown and continues north to its terminus at US 1 in Falls Township, near Morrisville. US 13 roughly parallels Interstate 95 (I-95) through its course in Pennsylvania.
The Lehigh Valley Transit Company (LVT) was a regional transport company that was headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company began operations in 1901, as an urban trolley and interurban rail transport company. It operated successfully into the 1930s, but struggled financially during the Great Depression, and was saved from abandonment by a dramatic ridership increase during and following World War II.
The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority, it is one of four primary vehicular bridges between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, along with the Betsy Ross, Walt Whitman, and Tacony-Palmyra bridges. It carries Interstate 676/U.S. Route 30, pedestrians/cyclists, and the PATCO Speedline.
The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad (CP&A), also known informally as the Cleveland and Erie Railroad, the Cleveland and Buffalo Railroad, and the Lake Shore Railroad, was a railway which ran from Cleveland, Ohio, to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Founded in 1848, the line opened in 1852. The railroad completed the rail link between Buffalo, New York, and Chicago, Illinois.
Calvert Street Station served railroad passengers of the Northern Central Railway in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1850 until 1948. It served as the terminus for the second railway chartered in Maryland, which eventually was expanded into a network containing nearly 400 miles of track. The Northern Central, always in financial trouble, was leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) after 1861. With the opening of nearby Pennsylvania Station, the terminal became redundant. Rail traffic ceased around 1948 and the station was razed in 1949 to make way for the current occupant of the space, The Baltimore Sun.
Public transit has taken numerous forms in Columbus, the largest city and capital of Ohio. Transit has variously used passenger trains, horsecars, streetcars, interurbans, trolley coaches, and buses. Current service is through the Central Ohio Transit Authority's bus system, numerous intercity bus companies, and through bikeshare, rideshare, and electric scooter services.