SEPTA Route 36

SEPTA's Subway-Surface Trolley Route 36 (a.k.a.; the Elmwood Avenue-Subway Line) is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects the 13th Street station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the Eastwick Loop station in Eastwick section of Southwest Philadelphia, although limited service is available to the Elmwood Carhouse. It is the longest of the five lines that are part of the Subway-Surface Trolley system, and was even longer between 1956 and 1962 when the western terminus was at 94th Street and Eastwick Avenue. From 1962 through the 1970s, it was at 88th Street and Eastwick Avenue, making the route 16.2 miles (26.1 km) long.[3] Since 1975, it only goes as far as what was once 80th Street at the southern edge of the Penrose Plaza shopping center parking lot.

Route 36
Subway–surface trolley line
SEPTA Route 36 at the 40th Street Portal
Overview
Termini
Stations8 underground stations, 1 surface level station, and 40 street-level stops
Service
SystemSubway-Surface Trolley Lines
Depot(s)Elmwood Carhouse
Daily ridership12,737 (2019)
History
Opened1904
Technical
Line length15.3 mi (24.6 km)
Track gauge5 ft 2+12 in (1,588 mm) Pennsylvania trolley gauge[1][2]
Electrificationoverhead lines
Route map

MFL
13th Street
15th Street
19th Street
22nd Street
30th Street
MFL
33rd Street
 10 
36th Street
37th Street
40th Street Portal
 34  Baltimore Avenue
Woodland & Chester
 13  Chester Avenue
Woodland & 41st
Woodland & 42nd
Diversion tracks to 40th and Market
Woodland & 43rd
Woodland & 45th
Woodland & 46th
Woodland & 47th
Woodland & 48th
Woodland & 49th
 11  Woodland Avenue
49th & Paschall
49th & Grays
Grays & 51st
Grays & 52nd
Grays & Lindbergh
Lindbergh & Grays - FS
Lindbergh & 53rd
Lindbergh & 54th
Lindbergh & Wheeler
Elmwood & 56th
Elmwood & 57th
Elmwood & 58th
Elmwood & 59th
Elmwood & Edgewood
Elmwood & 61st
Elmwood & 62nd
Elmwood & 63rd
Elmwood & 64th
Elmwood & 65th
Elmwood & 66th
Elmwood & 67th
Elmwood & 68th
Elmwood & 69th
Elmwood & 70th
Elmwood & 71st
Elmwood & 72nd
Elmwood & 73rd
Elmwood & Island
Non-Revenue Track to Woodland Ave.
Island & Buist
Island & Tanager
Island & 76th
Island & Lindbergh
Island & Suffolk
Island & 80th

Route description

Starting from its eastern end at the 13th Street, Route 36 runs in a tunnel under Market Street. It stops at underground stations at 15th Street, 19th Street, 22nd Street, 30th Street, and 33rd Street. From 15th to 30th Streets, it runs on the outer tracks in the same tunnel as SEPTA's Market–Frankford Line.

Passengers may transfer free of charge to the Market–Frankford Line at 13th, 15th, and 30th Streets and to the Broad Street Line at 15th Street. Connections to the SEPTA Regional Rail are also available. Underground passageways connect the 13th and 15th Street Stations to Jefferson Station and Suburban Station.

Route 36 surfaces at the 40th Street Portal near 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue (US 13), and then runs southwest along Woodland Avenue along with the Route 11 trolleys, and then turns down 49th Street where the Woodland Maintenance Facility is located and the Route 10 diversion line ends. After 49th Street crosses over the Wilmington/Newark Line, it takes a sharp right curve as the road becomes Grays Avenue. Route 36 runs along Grays south of the Wilmington/Newark Line until it makes a diagonal move southwest onto Lindbergh Boulevard. Shortly after leaving Grays the line intersects with 54th Street and crosses over a bridge for the Philadelphia Subdivision freight line, and immediately intersects with a road running along the line leading to Bartram's Botanical Garden, the oldest surviving botanical garden in North America.[4]

Just before Lindbergh Boulevard becomes a divided highway east of 56th Street, the line moves onto Elmwood Avenue. From there it crosses over the Airport Line, continuing westward until it enters an industrial area and makes a left turn at a five way intersection that includes Elmwood Avenue, Island Road and Passyunk Avenue on the southeast corner. The northeast corner is the location of the Elmwood Depot on Island Road. Tracks runs northward along Island Road as far north as Woodland Avenue, which handles pull-ins/pull-outs for Routes 11 & 13.

Island Road is a wide boulevard with the Route 36 tracks down the middle, until the road divides at Buist Avenue, where the tracks run down the median, and a trolley stop exists. Another stop exists at Tanager Street. South of Tanager Street, the southbound Island Avenue lane crosses over the tracks, and they now run between the main road and southbound frontage road. The next stop is South 76th Street, which intersects with the frontage road, but has a stop along both this and the main road. The Route 36 line crosses Lindbergh Boulevard again, where it has its own stop in the median on both sides of the tracks north of Lindbergh Boulevard. The southwest corner also includes the Penrose Plaza Shopping Center, which spans the west side of Island Road as far down as the terminus of the Route 36 line, the Eastwick Loop, which is accessible from a U-Turn beneath the Island Road bridge over the SEPTA Airport Line, and is four blocks east of Eastwick Railroad Station. SEPTA plans to expand the regional rail station and possibly merge it with the trolley station, transforming it into the Eastwick Transportation Center.[5]

History

Route 36 was established as the Elmwood Avenue Line in 1904 by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company. Original streetcar service operated between Island Road and Elmwood Avenue via Center City on Market Street to Front & Market Streets. Service rerouted into the Subway-Surface Tunnel and extended to the Westinghouse Plant in Essington on November 5, 1955 replacing Route 37 trolley service. OWL (24-hour) service transferred from Route 37 to Route 36 at the same time. At the western terminus, service was cut back to 94th Street & Eastwick Avenue on September 9, 1956. Service was cut back again to 88th Street on August 15, 1962, Service was cut back a third time to 84th Street on January 5, 1966, but extended back to 88th Street on December 11, 1972. Service was cut back to 80th Street & Eastwick Avenue on April 26, 1975. In 1985, Island Avenue was converted into a new bridge over the SEPTA Airport Line near the station, and the intersection of 80th Street and Eastwick Avenue was replaced by a frontage road loop on the north side of the tracks.[6] Despite the elimination of the 80th Street intersection, trolleys still sign their destination as 80th Street – Eastwick.

In 2021, SEPTA proposed rebranding their rail transit service as "SEPTA Metro", in order to make the system easier to navigate. Under this proposal, the subway–surface lines will be rebranded as the "T" lines with a green color and numeric suffixes for each service, and Route 36 would be renamed "T5 Elmwood Avenue."[7][8] SEPTA described that "most comments were positive" in the public comment period for this rebranding project.[9]

Stations and stops

All are in the City of Philadelphia.

Neighborhood/
location
Images Station or stop Connections Notes
Market East 13th Street SEPTA#Rapid transit MFL Market–Frankford Line
SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 10, 11, 13, 34, 36
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 27, 31, 32
Closed between 12:30–5:00am
Penn Center 15th Street SEPTA Regional Rail all lines (at Suburban)
SEPTA#Rapid transit MFL Market–Frankford Line, BSL Broad Street Line (at City Hall)
SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 10, 11, 13, 34, 36
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 4, 16, 17, 27, 31, 32, 33, 38, 44, 48
SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes 124, 125
Late night terminus
19th Street SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 10, 11, 13, 34, 36
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 17, 31, 38, 44, 48, 62, 78
SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes 124
Center City West 22nd Street SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 10, 11, 13, 34, 36
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 7, 31, 44, 62
SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes 124, 125
Replaced 24th Street station
University City 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#Rapid transit MFL Market–Frankford Line
SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 10, 11, 13, 34, 36
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 31, 49, LUCY
No direct passage to 30th Street Station
33rd Street SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 10, 11, 13, 34, 36
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 30, 31, 49, LUCY
Serves Drexel University
36th Street SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11, 13, 34
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 21
Serves University of Pennsylvania
37th Street SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11, 13, 34
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 40, 42, LUCY
Serves University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Spruce Hill 40th Street Portal SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11, 13, 34
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 30, 40, 42, LUCY
End of Route 34 concurrency
Chester & Woodland SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11, 13
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 30
End of Route 13 concurrency
41st & Woodland (EB) SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 30
42nd & Woodland SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11
43rd & Woodland (WB)
45th & Woodland (EB)
SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11
Squirrel Hill 46th & Woodland SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11
47th & Woodland (EB) SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11
Kingsessing 48th & Woodland SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11
49th & Woodland SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines 11
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 12, 52, 64
End of Route 11 concurrency
Paschall & 49th SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 12, 64
49th & Grays (EB)
51st & Grays
52nd & Grays (EB)
Grays & Lindbergh (WB)
Lindbergh & Grays (WB)
53rd & Lindbergh (EB)
54th & Lindbergh
Wheeler & Lindbergh
56th & Elmwood
57th & Elmwood
Elmwood 58th & Elmwood
59th & Elmwood
Edgewood & Elmwood
61st & Elmwood
62nd & Elmwood SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes G
63rd & Elmwood
64th & Elmwood
65th & Elmwood SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes 108
66th & Elmwood SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes 108
67th & Elmwood
68th & Elmwood
69th & Elmwood
70th & Elmwood
71st & Elmwood
72nd & Elmwood
73rd & Elmwood Located near Elmwood Depot & overnight terminus
Eastwick Island & Elmwood SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 68
SEPTA Suburban Division bus routes 108
Buist & Island SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 68
Tanager & Island
76th & Island
Lindbergh & Island SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes 37, 68
Island/Suffolk
80th Street–Eastwick SEPTA Regional Rail      Airport Line (at Eastwick)

References

  1. "The history of trolley cars and routes in Philadelphia". SEPTA. 1974-06-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2014-06-11. An early city ordinance prescribed that all tracks were to have a gauge of 5' 214".
  2. Hilton, George W.; Due, John Fitzgerald (2000-01-01). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804740142. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  3. 1974 SEPTA Trolleys Brochure
  4. Directions to Bartram's Garden (Official Site)
  5. SEPTA Regional Rail Lines (NYC Subways.org)
  6. ISLAND AVENUE over SEPTA; FRONTAGE ROAD – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (UglyBridges.com)
  7. Vitarelli, Alicia; Staff (September 7, 2021). "SEPTA Metro? Transit agency mulling big changes including new name, map, and signage". Philadelphia, PA: WPVI-TV. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  8. "Wayfinding Recommendations". SEPTA. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  9. "Design Concept Feedback". planning.septa.org. SEPTA. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
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