SEPTA Route 15
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| Route 15 Girard Avenue Trolley |
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| Info | |
| Type | Streetcar line |
| Locale | Philadelphia, PA |
| Terminals | 63rd Street and Girard Avenue Richmond and Westmoreland Streets |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1859; 2005 (resumed) |
| Operator(s) | SEPTA |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 8.5 mi[1] (13.7 km) |
| Gauge | Pennsylvania Trolley Gauge: 5 ft 2½ in (1,588 mm) |
| Electrification | Overhead lines |
Route 15 is a heritage streetcar 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. PCC streetcars are used on the line.
The line was first opened in 1859 as a horse car line operated by the Richmond and Schuylkill River Passenger Railway, and electrified in the 1890s.[citation needed] Service was suspended (replaced with buses) in 1992, along with Route 23 (Germantown Avenue-11th and 12th Streets) and Route 56 (Wayne-Erie Avenues). On September 4, 2005, trolley service was restored.
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[edit] Route
The tracks for 8.5 mile (13.7 km) Route 15 run along Girard Avenue and Richmond Street. The Western terminus is at the intersection of Girard Avenue and 63rd Street, and the Eastern terminus is at the intersection of Richmond Street and Westmoreland Street. The line provides access to the Market-Frankford Line's Girard Station and to the Broad Street Line's Girard Station.
[edit] History
The Richmond and Schuylkill River Passenger Railway was chartered by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on March 26, 1859 to operate along Girard Avenue between the Girard Avenue Bridge over the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park and Norris Street in Richmond, with an extension authorized west over the bridge to Lancaster Avenue.[2] The line opened from Second Street to 31st Street[3] in July 1859.[citation needed] The company was sold at foreclosure and reorganized as the Fairmount Park and Delaware River Passenger Railway on June 14, 1864,[citation needed] and was merged into the Germantown Passenger Railway (Route 23 Germantown Avenue) on February 15, 1866.[4]
Extensions were opened east to Palmer Street in 1866 (looping via Palmer, Beach, and Shackamaxon Streets[5]) and to Norris Street in 1875.[3] The People's Passenger Railway leased the line on October 1, 1881, and leased the Girard Avenue Railway (chartered May 17, 1894) on June 22, 1896,[4] extending the line west to 60th Street in 1900.[3] The Union Traction Company leased the People's Passenger Railway on July 1, 1896, giving it control over almost all the street railways in Philadelphia.[4] Girard Avenue cars were extended west to 63rd Street and east to Allegheny Avenue - the latter extension along the ex-Electric Traction Company Bridesburg Line on Richmond Street - in 1903,[3] and eventually replaced the Bridesburg Line entirely to Bridesburg.[citation needed]
In 1992, SEPTA replaced trolley service along Routes 15, 23, and 56 with buses. The 15 line has been reopened as a trolley service in September 2005 after having been served by buses for thirteen years. To prepare for the resumption of trolley service, SEPTA spent a total of $88 million, including rehabilitating the tracks and repairs to the overhead wires. The rolling stock for Route 15 consists of PCC II cars, which are 1947 PCC streetcars that had been completely rebuilt by the Brookville Equipment Company as a cost of $1.3 million per trolley. The rebuilt trolley includes the addition of air conditioning and regenerative braking.[6] The restoration of trolley service was delayed because of a long fight with local residents on 59th Street, which the trolleys needed travel down in order to access the Callowhill Depot, over parking on the street.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Railway Age, Cash-short SEPTA presses on with capital program, October 1, 2004
- ^ Public Laws 241 and 242 of 1859 and 1862 of 1861, reprinted in Law Department of the City of Philadelphia, A Digest of Laws Relating to the City of Pennsylvania, 1865, pp. 111-113 (appendix)
- ^ a b c d Harold E. Cox, Philadelphia Car Routes, 1982, cited in U.S. Urban Rail Transit Lines Opened From 1980PDF (1.47 MB), 2005
- ^ a b c American Street Railway Investments, a Supplement to the Street Railway Journal, 1897, p. 198, 200, 204
- ^ William B. Atkinson, The Philadelphia Medical Register and Directory, 1875
- ^ "Philadelphia's PCCs Return to Service." Railway Age. Vol. 205, No. 10, p. 30. October 1, 2005.
- ^ [1] Amy L. Webb (2004). "Communication Breakdown." Philadelphia City Paper. September 30, 2004.
[edit] External links
- Route 15 schedulePDF (84.7 KB)
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