T1 (SEPTA Metro)

A trolley approaching 36th Street Portal in 2011
Overview
Termini
Stations6 underground stations, 1 surface level station, and 38 street-level stops
Service
TypeLight rail
SystemSEPTA Metro
Operator(s)SEPTA
Depot(s)Callowhill Depot
Daily ridership11,589 (2019 weekday ridership)
Technical
Line length11.6 mi (18.7 km)[citation needed]
Track gauge5 ft 2+14 in (1,581 mm) Pennsylvania trolley gauge[1][2]
ElectrificationOverhead line600 V DC
Route map
Map
13th Street
15th Street/​City Hall
19th Street
22nd Street
Drexel Station at 30th Street
33rd Street
36th Street Portal
36th–Market
36th–Lancaster
Powelton–Lancaster
38th–Lancaster
Saunders–Lancaster
Spring Garden–Lancaster
diversion tracks
to 40th–Market
40th–Lancaster
Wallace–Lancaster
41st–Lancaster
42nd–Lancaster
Parrish–Lancaster
Ogden–Lancaster
44th–Lancaster
Westminster–Lancaster
45th–Lancaster
Wyalusing–Lancaster
47th–Lancaster
48th–Lancaster
Lancaster–Girard
49th–Lancaster
50th–Lancaster
Media–Lancaster
52nd–Lancaster
Lancaster–Lansdowne
54th–Lansdowne
55th–Lansdowne
56th–Lansdowne
57th–Lansdowne
58th–Lansdowne
59th–Lansdowne
60th–Lansdowne
61st–Lansdowne
62nd–Lansdowne
63rd–Lansdowne
non-revenue track to 63rd–Haverford
Jefferson–63rd
Columbia–63rd
Lebanon–63rd
63rd–Malvern/Overbrook
Overbrook

The T1, formerly Route 10, is a light rail line and one of the five T services of the SEPTA Metro. It connects 13th Street station in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the 63rd–Malvern/Overbrook station in the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia.

Route description

Starting from its eastern terminus at 13th Street, the T1 runs in a subway tunnel under Market Street. It has underground station stops at 15th Street/City Hall, 19th Street, 22nd Street, Drexel Station at 30th Street, and 33rd Street. From 15th to 30th Streets, it runs on the outer tracks of the Market Street subway tunnel used by the L. Passengers may transfer free of charge to the L at 13th Street, 15th Street, and 30th Street and to the B at 15th Street. Connections to the SEPTA Regional Rail can be made at either 15th Street/City Hall Station or Drexel Station at 30th Street. There is an underground passageway that connects 30th Street Station to Drexel Station at 30th Street, but this has long been sealed off due to high crime. An underground passageway continues to serve between the 13th and 15th Street/City Hall stations and Jefferson Station and Suburban Station, respectively.

The T1 exits the subway at the 36th Street Portal, whereas the other T services surface at the 40th Street Portal. The T1 then runs north on 36th Street, passing the University City Science Center as it approaches Lancaster Avenue (US 30). At Lancaster Avenue there is a wye cutback, which at one point connected to the former Route 38 trolley to Lancaster Avenue when the T1 Line continued straight down Lancaster Avenue to Market Street, where it connected to a now-closed subway entrance at 23rd & Market Streets.

Continuing northwest on Lancaster Avenue, the T1 crosses over 40th Street, where there is a southbound track which diverts the T1 to 40th & Filbert Streets when the T subway tunnel is closed. At 41st Street there is a northbound track by which the T1 returns from 40th & Filbert Station. The tracks on 40th and 41st Streets continue north of Lancaster Avenue (part of the PTC Route 40 trolley line until September 9, 1956[3]) to Girard Avenue and connect to the G.

Continuing northwest along Lancaster Avenue to 48th Street, the T1 intersects Girard Avenue, where the G trackage joins that of the T1; as Girard is offset by Lancaster Avenue, the two routes briefly share tracks before the G turns left to continue up Girard Avenue.

At 52nd Street the line reaches Lansdowne Avenue, where another cutback loop exists, installed in 1996 for emergency or schedule adjustments only. The T1 turns west on Lansdowne Avenue and at 60th Street, a pair of tracks on 60th formerly ended just short of the south side of Lansdowne Avenue. These tracks once belonged to SEPTA Route 46 when it was a trolley line (abandoned on August 11, 1957[3]), and later served as pull-in/pull-out tracks for the then-Route 10 before it was moved to SEPTA's Elmwood Depot. When the then-Route 10 moved back to Callowhill Depot in the 2000s, trolleys pulled-in/pulled-out to Callowhill Depot via 63rd Street instead, using the outer end of Route 15 along with trackage which once belonged to the Route 41 trolley (abandoned on August 11, 1957,[3] and now served by SEPTA Bus Route 31, another former subway–surface line until 1949). The 60th Street tracks were removed between Lancaster and Haverford Avenues in the early 2000s. The T1 turns north from Lansdowne onto 63rd Street, on which the line continues until it finally reaches the Malvern Loop, which has two (formerly three) tracks, sharing the off-street loop with SEPTA Bus Route 46.

History

The T1 was established sometime before 1887. On December 15, 1906, the line was integrated into the subway–surface trolley system by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company and was extended to 63rd & Malvern Streets.[4] In 1929, it was rerouted so that it went on Landsowne and 61st rather than on Girard, replacing part of Route 44.

In 2020, two then-Route 10 LRVs collided in West Philadelphia, injuring 46.[5]

SEPTA trolley modernization proposed new Alstom LRVs vehicles, which will be delivered from 2027 to 2030, as well as extending the T1 to Overbrook station.

Stations and stops

All are located in the city of Philadelphia.

Neighborhood Station or stop Connections Notes
Market East 13th Street SEPTA Metro:
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 27, 31, 32
Closed between 12:30–5:00am
Penn Center 15th Street/​City Hall SEPTA Regional Rail: all lines (at Suburban)
SEPTA Metro:
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 4, 16, 17, 27, 31, 32, 33, 38, 44, 48
SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes SEPTA Suburban Bus: 124, 125
Late night terminus
19th Street SEPTA Metro:
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 17, 31, 38, 44, 48, 62, 78
SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes SEPTA Suburban Bus: 124
Center City West 22nd Street SEPTA Metro:
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 7, 31, 44, 62
SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes SEPTA Suburban Bus: 124, 125
Replaced 24th Street station
University City Drexel Station at 30th Street Amtrak Amtrak (at 30th Street)
NJ Transit NJ Transit: ACL Atlantic City Line (at 30th Street)
SEPTA Regional Rail: all lines (at 30th Street)
SEPTA Metro:
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 31, 49, LUCY
No direct passage to 30th Street Station
33rd Street SEPTA Metro:
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 30, 31, 49, LUCY
Serves Drexel University
36th Street Portal
36th–Market SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: LUCY
Powelton Village 36th–Lancaster
Powelton–Lancaster (WB)
38th–Lancaster
Saunders–Lancaster
Spring Garden–Lancaster
40th–Lancaster SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 30, 40, 43
Belmont Wallace–Lancaster SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 43
41st–Lancaster SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 31, 40, 43
42nd–Lancaster SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 43
Parrish–Lancaster
Ogden–Lancaster (WB)
44th–Lancaster (EB)
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 43
Mill Creek Westminster–Lancaster (WB)
45th–Lancaster (EB)
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 64
Wyalusing–Lancaster
47th–Lancaster
48th–Lancaster
Lancaster–Girard SEPTA Metro:
Carroll Park 49th–Lancaster
50th–Lancaster
Media–Lancaster (EB)
52nd–Lancaster (WB)
Lancaster–Lansdowne (EB)
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 52
Overbrook 54th–Lansdowne
55th–Lansdowne
56th–Lansdowne
57th–Lansdowne SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 63
58th–Lansdowne
59th–Lansdowne
60th–Lansdowne SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 46
61st–Lansdowne
62nd–Lansdowne
63rd–Lansdowne SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 31
Jefferson–63rd
Columbia–63rd (WB)
Lebanon–63rd (EB)
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 46
63rd–Malvern/Overbrook SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes SEPTA City Bus: 46, 63, 65
SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes SEPTA Suburban Bus: 105
Five blocks to Overbrook Regional Rail station

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ^ "The history of trolley cars and routes in Philadelphia". SEPTA. June 1, 1974. p. 2. Retrieved June 11, 2014. An early city ordinance prescribed that all tracks were to have a gauge of 5' 214"
  2. ^ Hilton, George W.; Due, John Fitzgerald (January 1, 2000). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804740142. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Borgnis, Mervin E. (1995). An inside story of PRT & PTC. Pleasantville, New Jersey: Mervin E. Borgnis. pp. 168–169.
  4. ^ 1974 SEPTA Trolleys Brochure
  5. ^ Fazlollah, Mark (August 22, 2017). "Notable SEPTA train accidents". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
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