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Originally Posted by Pavlov's Dog
A couple of questions from an outsider who's only been in Philadelphia a couple of times.
1. Is there any form of metropolitan regional government with real power above the county level in either Penn or Jersey?
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Nope.
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2. Do the rail, subway or trolley tunnels in Central City have vacant capacity? How about the Ben Franklin Bridge to Camden. Many of the suggestions presented here seem to think they do.
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The MFL's at saturation point, but as for the other tunnels: You bet they do. There's even an unused tunnel in the area of 10th and Arch.
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3. In the Franklin Square area: Would it been difficult or expensive for the Ridge avenue extension to continue into the Patco Speedline tunnels and continue on to 15/16th and perhaps an extension to Rittenhouse Square. Could some of the NJ Transit proposed expansion go into the commuter rail tunnel instead and on to the 30th Ave Station?
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The PATCO came along long after the BSL. Originally the Broad-Ridge spur and the Bridge subway connected into the same tunnel and both ran to 15th/16th. The current Spur 8th/Mkt station was built in the '60s, when the formation of the Speedline (which runs with a different fare system) necessitated the separation of the two.
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4. It seems like the area of North Philadelphia where the Broad St Subway meets multiple commuter rail lines, Amtrak and New Jersey transit would be an ideal regional center and yet the area seems very low-rise and underbuilt.
Please excuse my ignorance in advance.
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That because it
is a very good idea.
Hey, Wats, CG, don't get carried away. Remember there was a trolley appropriation in last year's budget, as well as the ones for the year before that and then the year before that one, etc. Until and unless there's a real community demand for trolley restoration, like say a bunch of Chestnut Hillers marching into 1234 Market with a petition with, oh say, 50k signees, the current SEPTA management ain't going to restore trolley service on those lines.