Germantown Avenue-11th & 12th Streets Line

The German Town Avenue 11th & 12th Streets Line is asked out of service Tramway in Philadelphia in the US state of Pennsylvania , the bus on which route since the closure in 1992 Route 23 runs. It was once the longest tram line in the city and goes back to the Germantown Avenue Line, which opened in 1859. Recommissioning as a tram line has a high priority in the plans of Philadelphia's transport company, SEPTA , but has already been postponed several times due to lack of funds.

Route

Germantown Avenue-11th & 12th Streets Line

Legend Bethlehem Pike Loop (Chestnut Hill Loop) Chestnut Hill West Chestnut Hill West Line to Philadelphia Suburban Station Chestnut Hill East Mount Airy Morton Local tangential line through Germantown Germantown Avenue & Chelten Avenue Germantown Steep stretch at Loudoun Park Chestnut Hill East Line to Chestnut Hill East Warminster Line to Warminster Germantown Avenue & Windrim Avenue Wayne Junction Warminster Line to Philadelphia 30th Street Station Roosevelt Expressway Nicetown Wayne-Erie Line to Wayne Avenue & Carpenter Lane Erie Avenue Line to Erie Avenue Venango Street Erie Station Broad Street Line to Fern Rock Transportation Center Broad Street Line to Pattison Wayne-Erie Line to 10th Street & Luzern Street Erie Avenue Line to Torresdale Avenue & Cottman Avenue North Philadelphia Northeast Corridor Turn north off 11th Street Guided south travel to 10th Street Warminster Line Guided south travel to 12th Street Parallel traffic on 12th and 11th Streets Glenwood North Central Philadelphia Yorktown Girard Avenue & 12th Street, Girard Avenue & 11th Street Girard Avenue Line Callowhill Vine Street Expressway Chinatown Market Street & 12th Street 11th Street Station Market – Frankford Subway-Elevated Line Midtown Village Hawthorne Newbold Lower Moyamensing 10th & Bigler Block bypass on Oregon Avenue, Marvine, Bigler, and 10th Street

The platform canopy at Chestnut Hill West Station

The Germantown Avenue-11th & 12th Streets Line begins at the Bethlehem Pike Loop (alternative name Chestnut Hill Loop) at Chestnut Hill West station on the hill of the same name and runs from there over Germantown Avenue to Germantown. The line first negotiates a steep stretch before crossing the Mount Airy and Morton districts. After the line leaves downtown Germantown, it continues to follow Germantown Avenue to Philadelphia, passing Villa Loudoun Park , where there is another steep stretch. Immediately thereafter, the Warminster Line and Chestnut Hill East Line will be crossed under at Weyne Junction station . Along Nicetown , the route leads to the intersection with Broad Street. There, the former tram lines 53 and 56 will cross on Erie Avenue , there is also a possibility to change to the underground line Broad Street Line at Erie Station . After passing under the Northeast Corridor railway line , the route continues on Germantown Avenue to the intersection with Huntingdon Street through North Philadelphia. The southern direction is and here about the immediate south branching off 10th Street, the Susquehanna Avenue led to 12th Street, where it crosses the running northbound tracks of 11th Avenue, which only further north on Huntingdon Street to the German Town Avenue are conducted . As far as the southern turning loop, the southern direction of travel is directed through Philadelphia via 12th Street and northern via 11th Street. Glenwood, North Central Philadelphia and Yorktown are crossed before the Girard Avenue Line tram line crosses at the junction with the street of the same name. The route continues through the West Poplar and Callowhill districts to get to the city center, where you can change to the Market – Frankford Subway-Elevated Line at the intersection with Market Street . In South Philadelphia, the districts of Midtown Village, Hawthorne, Newbold and Lower Moyamensing are connected before the route ends in a block bypass on Oregon Avenue , Marvine Street , Bigler Street and 10th Street.

history

A PCC streetcar on Oregon Avenue on May 11, 1985

The operation on Germantown Avenue was started as early as 1858 as a horse-drawn tram , which connected the northeastern suburb of Germantown from the terminus at Phil-Ellena Street with 8th Street in Philadelphia and replaced a horse-drawn bus line that had operated on the route since 1851. The construction of the route was carried out by the Germantown Passenger Rail Way Company . On April 21, 1858, the operation began under the direction of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , which had rented the route for it. Soon the trams were frequented by 2,500 passengers a day. The fare was seven cents for a trip along the entire length of the line. Since on a short section along the grounds of Villa Loudoun the slope for the horses was too high, was at the lower end of the steep section a so-called hill-horse (: literally hill horse ) stationed, which was used to assist in driving uphill. The first extension of the route was a local tangential line through Germantown via Chellen Avenue, which over the years developed the suburb's city center at the intersection of the two lines. In 1881 the line was leased to the People's Passenger Railway Company. This was renamed the People's Traction Company in 1893 and had the Germantown Avenue Line electrified in the same year. On September 6, 1895, the operating company was integrated into the Union Traction Company , which in turn was leased on July 1, 1902 for 999 years to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company , which was also known as the Philadelphia Transportation Company .

At the end of the 18th century, extensions to Chestnut Hills and the surrounding villages northwest of Germantown were realized. The first stage was the extension of the route to the eponymous Chestnut Hill in 1894 , which was followed by the second stage to Northwest Avenue and to Erdenheim in 1898. These extensions were already the subject of public criticism. When the line was to be extended again and tracks had already been laid in Bethlehem Pike in Erdenheim, these were removed and transported away by residents along the planned extension the night after the laying. In response, the chairman of the Union Traction Company , who was then the line's agent, decided to withdraw the line from the planned route and run it through Hillcrest Avenue to White City Amusement Park . These plans were not realized either and the terminus remained on Chestnut Hill, with the line reaching its greatest extent in a north-westerly direction at the terminus there on the Bethlehem Pike Loop.

Initially, however, the entire route was not traveled by one line, but by the Mermaid & Chestnut Hill Line between Chestnut Hill and Germantown and the Germantown Avenue Line between Germantown and Philadelphia. The tram lines on 4th and 5th Street were integrated into the latter line in 1890, so that the line was extended to Snyder Avenue in southern Philadelphia and was named Pelham Line . In 1913, the Mermaid & Chestnut Hill Line and the Pelham Line were merged into one line, which was now routed in Philadelphia on 10th and 11th Street and was thus renamed the Germantown Avenue-10th & 11th Streets Line . The next extension took the line south to the intersection with Ritner Street . In 1926, the line reached its furthest extent south with a terminus at Pattison Avenue . It was not until 1957 that the line was shortened slightly, with the southern terminus being relocated a few hundred meters to Bigler Street further north . The last major change in the course of the line took place simultaneously with the introduction of line numbers in 1953, when the Germantown Avenue-10th and 11th Streets Line were connected to the 12th and 13th Streets Line to form a line. Since now only the routes on 11th and 12th Street were used, the name changed one last time to Germantown Avenue-11th & 12th Streets Line . At the same time, the line was assigned line number 23.

PCC cars were supposed to be running on the line as early as 1942. However, the tram cars of the series of 100 vehicles that were ordered turned out to be unsuitable for negotiating the steep stretch to Chestnut Hill and were transferred to the Lucerne depot , where they were used on other lines. The delivery of another series of tram cars with more powerful engines was prevented by the shortage of materials during the Second World War. When the number of passengers decreased in the post-war period, the order was adjusted to 85 new PCC cars. 1947 to 1948 the tram cars were introduced on the line. In the eighties, on the other hand, the number of passengers rose so strongly that the Philadelphia Inquirer referred to line 23 as SEPTA's Rolling Cash Register , the SEPTA's rolling cash register .

Already in 1990 the shutdown of tram operations on line 23 and lines 15 and 56 was prepared. The SEPTA initially sold the equipment for many hundreds of trams. In 1992 the tram service was terminated and replaced by diesel buses, which have been running on line 23 ever since. The suspension was initially intended to be temporary, as the SEPTA planned to purchase new trams by 1997 to replace the outdated rolling stock from PCC cars. However, since then there has not been a restart of operations.

Development of the route and bus route

A bus on line 23

Since the tram was shut down, the line has deteriorated so badly in some areas that in 2005 the tracks that protruded above street level were removed in dangerous places. In a section of the route in Mt. Airy, between Allens Lane and Mermaid Lane, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation invested 17 million dollars in the renewal of Germantown Avenue, with the tracks and overhead lines including the catenary masts being completely renewed to allow the tram to start operating again made possible by the SEPTA. The maintenance and renewal of the route is also supported by residents of the route. The former importance of the Germantown Avenue Line for urban development along the route plays an important role .

First and foremost, the introduction of diesel buses cut the line's travel time by around half: while a tram car covered the route in around three hours, the buses actually only need around 90 minutes for the journey today. However, this time is usually not achieved, as the punctuality rate of the buses is only 64%, which is only undercut by five other SEPTA lines. Every day, 22,801 passengers are transported with 254 bus trips, making line 23 the busiest route in Philadelphia. Sometimes the buses are so overcrowded that passengers can no longer get on at the stops. To solve the problem of punctuality, SEPTA announced in March 2015 that it would split the line into two new bus routes in November 2015. Line 23 will continue to use the northern part of the line, while the new line 45 will operate in the section south of the city center. Since the tramway no longer goes through the turning loop on Bigler Street , the new southern endpoint is Oregon Avenue .

The line is of great importance as it connects the districts with residents of different ethnicities and incomes .

Plans to reintroduce the tram

Plans from 2010 called for the tram to be put back into operation between 2011 and 2018. In 2011, however, the time horizon was set back to 2015–2022. SEPTA's spending planning postponed the reopening date back to 2016-2023. In 2015, SEPTA announced again that it would allocate $ 2 million for a feasibility study for commissioning between 2021 and 2027.

literature

• Judith Callard: Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill , Arcadia Publishing, 2000, ISBN 978-0-7385-0416-2
• David R. Contosta: Suburb in the City: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, 1850-1990 , Ohio State University Press, 1992, ISBN 978-0-8142-0581-5
• Thomas H. Keels, Elizabeth Farmer Jarvis: Chestnut Hill , Arcadia Publishing, 2002, ISBN 978-0-7385-1061-3
• Schneider, Fred W. III: PCC: From Coast to Coast , Interurban Press, 1983, ISBN 0-916374-57-2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Philadelphia Street Cars, Germantown Avenue Trolley. John Speller's Web Pages, accessed August 14, 2015 . 
2. ^ David R. Contosta: Suburb in the City: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, 1850-1990 , p. 47
3. ^ Judith Callard: Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill , p. 54
4. ↑ Thomas H. Keels: Chestnut Hill , p. 36
5. ^ The history of trolley cars and routes in Philadelphia. SEPTA, accessed August 31, 2015 . 
6. ↑ Philadelphia Transportation Company Streetcar Routes as of January 1953. Philadelphia Trolley Tracks, accessed August 31, 2015 . 
7. ^ Schneider, Fred W. III: PCC: From Coast to Coast , p. 142
8. ^ ^{A b} Tracking the history of the Route 23 trolley. (No longer available online.) NewsWorks, archived from the original on January 9, 2016 ; accessed on August 31, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ SEPTA plans to divide Bus Route 23.philly.com, accessed on September 1, 2015 (English). 
10. ↑ SEPTA's Route 23: A window on Philadelphia. PhillyVoice, accessed August 31, 2015 .