Philadelphia Transportation Thread

[wanderer34]

While Boston and Philadelphia both have their similarities in both cities being in the East Coast and both being important in the country’s founding, I believe the MBTA has two advantages over Philadelphia:coverage and continuous expansion and restoration of it’s mass transit system.

One can go from North Station to Lowell, Lawrence, Newburyport, and if the yokels of NH were smart enough, they’d welcome MBTA to NH while in South Station, one can go to Worcester, Plymouth, Brockton, and as far as Providence and TF Green. Philadelphia used to provide rail service to Allentown, Reading, West Chester, and the Jersey Shore but no more.

However, a commuter rail extension in RI to Wickford Junction is in the works last time I checked and another extension to Fall River and New Bedford is already going to come to fruition (https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news...-rail-service/; https://www.boston.com/news/local-ne...ll-river-mbta/).

I haven’t really seen nor heard of anything important that SEPTA is doing and the closest is the proposal to extend the Purple Line to KOP and I’m not sure if that’s going to happen, even with President Biden sitting in office. It’s really no surprise that the MBTA, like many transit agencies across the country has it’s problems with age, but is also able to expand and restore many of its lines as well as create new lines like the Green Line extension to Tufts while SEPTA continues to sit on it’s hands and provides subpar service for both urban and suburban residents.

[Busy Bee]

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/37438536435...Bk9SR8bik9GaYQ

[arkitect13]

I think i found something on the girard ave trolley, according to a Inqy article they plan on having half of the cars at minimum in service by September of next year, running half of the route as trolley and the other half as bus. It seems like that's worse case, however as of September they have 1 or 2 cars close to, or ready to start testing.

https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20220904.html

[summersm343]

Rechargable trains proposed to link West Chester to established Philly line

WEST CHESTER — West Chester Borough Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of SEPTA and Chester County studying a cheaper alternative to connect the borough to downtown Philadelphia by rail.

The borough rail committee has pitched plans for a $16 million West Chester Metro that is significantly less expensive than a conventional commuter/regional rail line.

The metro would shuttle between West Chester and Wawa in Delaware County, where SEPTA restored commuter rail service in August, running on existing SEPTA right of way where tracks still remain. Direct SEPTA commuter train service from West Chester to Center City ended in 1986 due in part to a lack of riders.

Reestablishing conventional rail service would cost at least $380 million. SEPTA representatives have reported that its $12 billion 12-year capital budget contains a $4.6 billion backlog on critical repair projects, making conventional commuter by rail unfeasible.

Instead, the Metro would use one-of-a-kind and much cheaper battery-powered light rail Class 230 trains built by Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp.

The line would use recycled London Underground cars. Two car shuttles would carry 194 passengers. Cutting-edge battery technology, with fast recharging and a 60-mile range is envisioned.

The trains would make stops in West Chester, West Chester University, Westtown, Cheyney University and the new Wawa station, where commuters would connect with existing SEPTA trains to reach Center City.

The travel time for West Chester to Wawa would be 12 minutes, with plans for 21-round trips daily. Trains might run from 4:45 a.m. to 12:14 a.m. with five-minute connections in Wawa. Shuttles at Wawa would wait for late SEPTA trains.

Read/view more here:
https://www.dailylocal.com/2022/12/0...ter-to-philly/

[Busy Bee]

That's interesting to say the least, especially the use of recycled Underground cars...who saw that coming?...or even though it was possible?...BUT this shouldn't be a reason not to eventually complete electrification and a one seat ride to West Chester.

[William Van Alen]

Originally Posted by arkitect13

I think i found something on the girard ave trolley, according to a Inqy article they plan on having half of the cars at minimum in service by September of next year, running half of the route as trolley and the other half as bus. It seems like that's worse case, however as of September they have 1 or 2 cars close to, or ready to start testing.

https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20220904.html

I live in that neighborhood and have seen buses starting to go down Richmond Street. They also seem to be putting final touches on the turnaround for the 15, 60 and 73 at Richmond & Westmoreland. I'll try to take some pictures sometime because they're putting in shelters at the Trolley portion. Not sure if they're indicative of what we'll be getting with Trolley Mod, but they look decent from what I could see

Eagerly awaiting the return of the trains, because the 15 is getting on my last nerve as a bus route. So unreliable.

[Busy Bee]

https://www.railjournal.com/news/irj...-pennsylvania/

[thoughtcriminal]

Does anyone know - know, not guess, not make logical assumptions about, but actually have knowledge of - whether the lower level of the NRG subway station is planned to be used during the World Cup in 2026?

[thoughtcriminal]

Autonomous buses between the Navy Yard and NRG Station:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ate=2022-12-15
"Following a successful first phase, for which a timeline has not been determined, the project will then look to add routes that connect passengers at the Navy Yard to nearby NRG Station, part of SEPTA's Broad Street line located near the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
The Navy Yard currently offers shuttle routes on traditional buses to NRG Station and Center City. McNamara said that PIDC has been working closely with city officials to help make transit to and from the Navy Yard more accessible, and the autonomous vehicle will be yet another way for more people to access the Navy Yard — both for work and leisure."

I'm not sure how this qualifies as an additional option to buses that have drivers: it's just a bus that doesn't have a driver.

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by thoughtcriminal

Autonomous buses between the Navy Yard and NRG Station:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ate=2022-12-15
"Following a successful first phase, for which a timeline has not been determined, the project will then look to add routes that connect passengers at the Navy Yard to nearby NRG Station, part of SEPTA's Broad Street line located near the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
The Navy Yard currently offers shuttle routes on traditional buses to NRG Station and Center City. McNamara said that PIDC has been working closely with city officials to help make transit to and from the Navy Yard more accessible, and the autonomous vehicle will be yet another way for more people to access the Navy Yard — both for work and leisure."

I'm not sure how this qualifies as an additional option to buses that have drivers: it's just a bus that doesn't have a driver.

"Philadelphia, avoiding projects that should be done since 1776"

[arkitect13]

General question, anyone have any updates on the bi-level coaches for SEPTA

[DeltaNerd]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

"Philadelphia, avoiding projects that should be done since 1776"

We are going to need a lot of change in Media to be favorable towards public transit projects or at least not bias towards not building them.

[aprice1828]

Originally Posted by arkitect13

General question, anyone have any updates on the bi-level coaches for SEPTA

If you want to do some digging, this thread seems to get updates on the bi-levels before skyscraperpage does. Although the last two pages are an irreverent tangent between two or three users not worth reading.

[DeltaNerd]

Couple of (poor)ideas for new transit opportunities

I am curious would two parallel subways to the broad street line ever make sense in Philadelphia? It would be kinda like the red line from WMATA. The subway that starts at Fern rock goes down 5/8th street to Oregon. Goes on Oregon until 22nd street and goes all the way up to Wayne junction.

Connecting South NJ to Philadelphia via commuter rail. So I believe there are some tracks on the Northern end of suburban station that maybe had intention of being connect to NJ via a tunnel? I think I saw this idea pitch in a book. (Philadelphia Underground) would need to reread to confirm this.

Extending Patco. I know in the Philadelphia 2045 plan there was calls to push the Patco into West Philly via University City station and the trolley portal. An alternative route could be continue the line until the Schuylkill river turn North serving 30th street station. Cross the river again going along 29th street then either picking the Ridge Ave subway or Henry Ave subway.

These are just ideas I stole and are not realistic routes. Philadelphia needs more rail, Septa need to increase frequency on all rails before any of these ideas would ever be pitch. I just want to see if anyone would like to add to this or criticize this.

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by arkitect13

General question, anyone have any updates on the bi-level coaches for SEPTA

I can't disclose too many details, but expect to see them out for testing by the end of the summer/early fall. There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes to eventually run these on the railroad.

[Urbanthusiat]

Roosevelt Boulevard safety efforts get a $78 million boost from federal infrastructure bill

[arkitect13]

^^ Wish that was specifically towards the subway but any safety improvements work for the short term

[Busy Bee]

Nothing new, but I like his videos...

• Video Link

[thoughtcriminal]

Countdown clocks are coming to subways.
https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20230124.html
SEPTA being SEPTA, they shouldn't have countdown clocks, they should do what they used to do in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia - have clocks that show you how much you missed the last train by.

[TempleGuy1000]

PATCO posted some construction photos of Franklin Square yesterday.

In this pic, the installation of temporary tie-backs in the Station Concourse is now complete, in preparation for floor slab demolition.

Pictured here is a portion of the existing concourse roof that has been saw cut and demolished in preparation for the installation of the future elevator, escalator and staircases.

here is a rendering of the completed concourse area of the station. The renovation includes retaining and restoring as much of the original tile as possible.