Subway Surface Trolley Line Across Philadelphia, USA - (Such Boxy Trams - This is Not A Subway?)

The SEPTA subway-surface trolley lines are a collection of five SEPTA trolley lines that operate on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and also underneath Market Street in Philadelphia's Center City. The lines, Routes 10, 11, 13, 34, and 36, collectively operate on about 39.6 miles (63.7 km) of route.
SEPTA's Route 15, the Girard Avenue Line, is another streetcar line that is designated green on route maps but is not part of the subway-surface system.
Like Boston's Green Line and San Francisco's Muni Metro, the SEPTA trolley line is the descendant of a pre-World War II streetcar system. It also shares many similarities with the premetro and stadtbahn systems of continental Europe. Where Boston and San Francisco's systems use longer, articulated LRT vehicles, Philadelphia uses rigid vehicles roughly 4 feet (1,219 mm) longer than the PCC streetcar they replaced. The lines use Kawasaki Type K LRVs delivered in 1981-82. The cars are similar to those on Routes 101 and 102 100 series, SEPTA's suburban trolley routes, which were delivered around the same time. However, the subway-surface cars are single-ended and use trolley poles, while the suburban lines use double ended cars and pantographs for power collection. ~Wikipedia
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Comment below so we can all have a productive 'conversation about transportation!'
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/ timosha2

[@mrrobot5963]

Those trolley's reminds me of the CLRV streetcars in Toronto. RIP.

[@mrjsanchez1]

I have ridden both, I agree with you, they were both put in service around the same time early 80's.

[@trollface5084]

Why I think that these trolleys look like russian trams?

[@testensford4403]

True. Just theses ones have a more boxy front and back.

[@ARSZLB]

moving to Philly in a few months from NY, i’m excited to learn the trolley/light rail system in a new city, especially because the SEPTA system as a whole is a fascinating mix of old and new!

[@garysmith394]

Welcome to Philadelphia and I'm sure you will love our system and our trolley cars.

[@scottyerkes1867]

Thanks Tim for reviewing Philly's subway-surface lines. I use them frequently and also Septa's suburban trolleys. 😀😀♥️♥️

[@roachtoasties]

When the trains are going underground, serving underground stations, I call them a subway. When they're traveling above ground, I call them trams or light rail. Cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston are like that. Anyway, you can call them whatever you want. ;)

[@garysmith394]

That's why they are called Subway-Surface routes.

[@marciomesquita1976]

Few cities with "old school" streetcars. Toronto retired them last year.

[@lisaheisey6168]

The #11,#13, & #36 don't just operate in West Philly and Delaware County. They also operate all through Southwest Philly too, on Chester Ave, Woodland Ave, & Elmwood Ave. I've lived just off of each of those avenues, at different times in my life, and rode each of those trolleys often.

[@moishglukovsky]

What, not Baltimore Av and the #34?? :-)

[@lisaheisey6168]

@@moishglukovsky No. That's in West Philly. I only lived in West Philly, when I was first born. So, no public transportation rides for me, in West Philly, until I was an adult. And, then it was only for the el or the #52 bus.

[@dysontyronetd]

11, 13 & 36 runs SOUTHWEST

[@josemessiasrosa8856]

Nice video. Remembering my travels to Philly a few years ago. 👏🏿👏🏿

[@kevinhoward9593]

The K-Cars will be here long after we all have turned to dust. They were really well built.

[@zaciagajacy-warszawiak]

Personally, I prefer boxy design rather than rounded.

[@hiltonlive32grnrngr]

You mean like those green and yellow PCC cars? I was never a fan of them and like the Kawasaki cars a whole lot more but the PCCs seem to be pretty popular among railfans. I don't know about "boxy" but I am just a fan of the K-cars.

[@merccadoosis8847]

@@hiltonlive32grnrngr Us old timers just like the nostalgia of the old PCCs. Age does that to ya, at times.

[@losh330]

I'm going to miss those trolleys so much when they are retired but they still should be replaced soon.

[@radiogoodguy6287]

Great job. Must be hard for car & trolley to share the road. Loved the underground shots best. Reminds me of Newark NJ underground stops. I didn't know Philadelphia had a trolley underground. Does Philly ever bring out the old PCC cars? Not sure if NJT kept any when they went to LRV.

[@jg-7780]

They had one line run by refurbished PCC cars (Route 15), but I think there were some structural issues with the PCC’s, and the route is being indefinitely replaced by buses

[@radiogoodguy6287]

@@jg-7780 Too bad. It would be nostalgic for us to see & ride the PCC again. But that doesn't weigh much when it comes to business decisions.

[@timosha21]

@@radiogoodguy6287 They will probably bring them back - here is a video from 2017 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJSkamSlopp8mqM&ab_channel=Timosha21

[@CaseysTrains]

@@timosha21 Yeah they're in mid reconstruction, a matter of fact another unit was recently repainted and had it interior reinstalled. They're putting new steel floors on each car.

[@9255223]

That would be Route 15 (Girard Avenue mostly, named after lawyer and businessman Stephen Girard). Eighteen PCC all-electric cars originally built in 1947 (taken off the streets by 1992, refurbished in 2003, began running in 2005) were taken off the streets in January 2020 as they reached their contracted end of life (just one of many reasons, see the next paragraph). The refurbishment on the cars had a fifteen-year contract stipulation. 2020 just happened to be the fifteenth year, and before 2020 SEPTA had as little as FOUR of the streetcars able to serve passengers). SEPTA would have had the streetcars running up and down Girard longer if the cars were able as tourists came from around the world to film them, and Philadelphia LOVES tourists’ money. But in addition to the growing unreliability of the streetcars, in 2020 PennDOT started work on widening a section of I-95 that was close to the Girard-Frankford temporary terminus, so the cars had to be removed from the streets. The project is supposed to take up to eighteen months. Meanwhile, the steel used on the PCC cars (called PCC-II cars since their 2005 refurbishment) were notorious for accumulating rust at a quick rate, so it was time to either refurbish the cars again or consider modern trams. SEPTA chose a short-term refurbishment for the PCC-IIs because soon they’ll have to replace EVERY car (including the 40+ year old Kawasaki [“K”] cars for the Subway Surface line, and the double-ended K cars for the 101 and 102 lines [Media and Sharon Hill to Upper Darby]).

[@amiranore1707]

Definitely a cut cover subway but I love it

[@yiannisd8286]

Definitely is (except the tunnel portion under the skuylkill river of course)

[@TajmirTheRandomFan]

I want the Kawasaki Trollies to still be used.

[@Touchybanana]

These trolleys are going to be replaced with low floor trolleys in the future so even the streets are going to be reconstructed with the stations for the low floor trolleys.

[@adeoluwa5598]

U10/Route 10, U11/Route 11, U13/Route 13, U34/Route 34, and U36/Route 36

[@hiltonlive32grnrngr]

LOL "boxy trams" I've been a fan of the Kawasaki cars for years. I've always found it interesting how similar the single-ended cars look to the double-ended cars (the 101 and 102 that run in Delaware County) and that they do indeed run in the subway. Every year though they close the subway for maintenance work at which point they run the trolleys through the on-ground diverted route until 40th Street.

[@britishcorndog6079]

I like the tram design

[@Nazir-WalkAroundTheCity]

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[@TeamklausyStudios]

Kocham Polskę! Gorące pozdrowienia z Filadelfii!

[@moishglukovsky]

And the dipsh!ts that double-park on the tracks....unbelievable.

[@antoinetaylor8516]

Excellent video

[@UmurikenEmperor]

i wont be suprised collisions r a common occurrence with these street trains lol

[@kevanhubbard9673]

Those streets are very congested with cars.

[@Laslow-Blackburn-Brelinsky]

Seriously? The streets in the video are very empty, the city is literally a ghost

[@土浦乗り鉄]

nice video.

[@respect411]

theyre getting ready to modernize the fleet and retire these k cars. pccs coming back to the 15 at least

[@hiltonlive32grnrngr]

They've made that announcement years ago that they were going to retire the K-cars and replace them with more modern trolleys. I didn't want to accept this since i loved the K-cars so much but now I do. Those trolleys are damn near 40 years old. As of me posting this comment, I have not yet had the chance to ride the trolleys with that red LED thing on the back and want to. I was a fan of the K-cars because of the way they looked back in the 1990s and 2000s with the rollsigns and paint scheme. Never got to ride a single-ended K-car with that look unfortunately. I never rode the PCCs and was never a fan of them. Hopefully both versions of the K-car will be preserved for display somewhere like that PCC trolley car that's at Septa Customer Service on Market Street.

[@respect411]

​@@hiltonlive32grnrngr i definitely liked the old paint scheme on the k cars better too. i cant believe you can say you dont like the PCCs though, PCCs>K cars all day long

[@Locos-del-oeste]

Brilliant video my friend 👌😀

[@seeatlanta1408]

for the life of me I will never get the usefulness of a streetcar running in mixed use traffic.

[@wofat6300]

This looks like woodland avenue.

[@transitdude3352]

Memories! I remember the subway stops some you paid the driver now there’s digital fare readers down there. I wonder if you jump over one will a alarm go off?

[@emmanuelharris6491]

Nooooo not 1 alarm

[@hiltonlive32grnrngr]

No, there's no alarm that will go off if you don't pay the fare, the operator/driver will just stop you and ask you for the fare or they might just kick you off. They'll just not let you ride if you don't pay the fare or don't have it lol. As convenient as the digital fare system is, I miss the days of tokens and transfers.

[@dangelohartley5977]

What is that tool they use at 4:30?

[@nycres]

It's a switch iron. The trolley operator uses it to manually throw switches when necessary. The trolleys are equipped with vehicle identification technology (VETAG) that normally automates this, but on occasion it will fail. There are also a handful of infrequently-used switches that must always be thrown manually, but I believe they are all located at the loops at the outer ends of the lines.

[@dangelohartley5977]

@@nycres I thought it's a tool to remove debris from the rails. Sorry, I'm not from Philly lol

[@RealConstructor]

@@nycres I remember that also from the old trams in Amsterdam about 40 years ago. But I haven’t seen it since then. This tram system needs an upgrade.

[@computeraddic675]

This is a tram!!Subway is under ground.And i guess a trolly is a electric bus with tires.So without rails but still fed bij overhead cables.This tram lookes like a tram in 1980 and 1980 technoligy.Nowadays everything is automatic,never getting out of the tram by the driver to get the the rails in the right direction..

[@emmanuelharris6491]

In Philly this is a trolley, and they do go underground from 40th st to 15th.

[@wolfythewolf4457]

These actually do go underground, and you're right about them being from the 1980's

[@Cometvlover]

These trolley get annoying with bang noise

[@ucity85]

I definitely dont like these. I like the more streamline monorail looking trolley like the one in Kansas City 👌!

[@garysmith394]

The new trams or LRVs remind me of worms or caterpillars snaking through the streets. I don't like the accordion connections or the pantographs. I also don't like not being able to see the wheels of the car. I guess it's a matter of preference.

[@britishcorndog6079]

I prefer both, the worm is more effective, and the older designs can be a great touch

[@Cometvlover]

There not

[@Cometvlover]

There seats annoy me

[@Cometvlover]

Jk

[@nelsonricardo3729]

Those have got to be the ugliest trams ever. Even the Soviets built nicer ones.

[@transitdude3352]

These cars are from the 80’s. When they came out back then, Philadelphia had a modern trolley light rail system one of only a handful in the country at the time.

[@garysmith394]

The ugliest "trams" are these new monstrosities with the pantographs, articulated cars and hidden wheels. Now that is ugly! Our K cars may not be streamlined but at least they look like trolleys.

[@britishcorndog6079]

Nope. The ugliest is the retro Brussels one

[@hiltonlive32grnrngr]

Nope, especially when the K-cars had the red and blue paint scheme in the 1990s and the 2000s with the rollsigns that were easier on the eyes with the white Helvetica font.