SEPTA ROUTE 15

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'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 does not enter the Market Street Subway. 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. 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.

Contents

Route

History

External links

References

Route

The tracks for 8.5 mile-long 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.

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.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) The line opened from Second Street to 31st StreetHarold E. Cox, Philadelphia Car Routes, 1982, cited in , 2005 in July 1859. The company was sold at foreclosure and reorganized as the 'Fairmount Park and Delaware River Passenger Railway' on June 14, 1864, and was merged into the Germantown Passenger Railway (Route 23 Germantown Avenue) on February 15, 1866.American Street Railway Investments, a Supplement to the Street Railway Journal, 1897, p. 198, 200, 204
Extensions were opened east to Palmer Street in 1866 (looping via Palmer, Beach, and Shackamaxon StreetsWilliam B. Atkinson, The Philadelphia Medical Register and Directory, 1875) and to Norris Street in 1875. 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, extending the line west to 60th Street in 1900. 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. 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, and eventually replaced the Bridesburg Line entirely to Bridesburg.
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.^[2]

Route 15 Trolleys at Richmond and Westmoreland Loop

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.^[3]

External links

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References

1. Railway Age, Cash-short SEPTA presses on with capital program, October 1, 2004
2. "Philadelphia's PCCs Return to Service." ''Railway Age.'' Vol. 205, No. 10, p. 30. October 1, 2005.
3. [1] Amy L. Webb (2004). "Communication Breakdown." ''Philadelphia City Paper.'' September 30, 2004.