Market – Frankford Subway-Elevated Line

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Market – Frankford Subway-Elevated Line
Market – Frankford Line, 52nd Street Station
Market-Frankford Line, Station 52 nd  Street
Route length: 20.76 km
Gauge : 1581 mm ( broad gauge )
Power system : 630 V  =
Opening: March 4, 1907 69 th Street 15 th Street
Stations: 28
   
69 th Street Yard
   
0.0 69 th Street Terminal
   
0.4 Millbourne
   
Cobbs Creek , also the city limits
   
0.8 63 rd Street
   
1.1 60 th Street
   
1.5 56 th Street
   
1.9 52 nd Street
   
2.5 46 th Street
   
old route (until October 30, 1955, see below)
   
   
3.2 40 th Street
   
3.7 34 th Street
   
Start of parallel traffic on the subway surface lines
   
4.1 30 th Street 30th Street Station
   
Northeast Corridor
   
Schuylkill
   
old route (until October 30, 1955, see below)
   
22 nd Street (only subway Surface Lines)
   
19 th Street (Subway-Surface Lines only)
   
5.1 15 th street
   
Broad Street Line
   
Juniper Street, end of the subway surface lines
   
5.4 13 th Street
   
5.6 11 th Street
   
5.8 8 th Street Broad Street Line , PATCO Speedline
   
6.0 5 th street
   
6.3 2 nd Street
   
   
Delaware Avenue Elevated (until October 31, 1953, see below)
   
Benjamin Franklin Bridge with PATCO Speedline
   
Vine Street Expressway
   
7.1 Spring Garden
   
7.8 Girard
   
8.5 Berks (A)
   
8.9 York – Dauphin (B)
   
9.3 Huntingdon (A)
   
Richmond Branch of the Reading Railroad (freight railroad)
   
9.6 Somerset (B)
   
10.2 Allegheny
   
10.6 Tioga (A)
   
Northeast Corridor
   
11.3 Erie – Torresdale
   
Frankford Creek
   
11.8 Church (B)
   
12.3 Arrott Transportation Center
   
12.9 Frankford Transportation Center
   
Bridge Street Yard
Old route until October 30, 1955
   
46 th Street
   
new route (since October 31, 1955)
   
40 th Street
   
36 th Street
   
32 nd Street West Philadelphia station
   
Schuylkill
   
Portal 22 nd Street
   
new route (since October 31, 1955)
   
15 th street
Delaware Avenue Elevated ("Ferry Line") until October 31, 1953
   
2 nd Street
   
   
to Frankford
   
Chestnut Street
   
South Street

The SEPTA Market – Frankford Subway-Elevated Line , or Market – Frankford Line for short, is an electrically operated elevated and underground railway in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . It is 20.76 km long and has 28 stations. It is operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and is also referred to as the Blue Line according to the identification color on route network maps and signs . The track width is 1581 mm (5 feet 2.25 inches).

The name Market – Frankford is derived from the busy street on Market Street and the northern end of the route, Frankford . The line is seen by the public as Elevated Railway or "the El" because, in contrast to the other two rapid transit systems in the city, the Broad Street Line and the PATCO Speedline , it is largely elevated.

course

The route begins about a kilometer straight line west of the city limits of Philadelphia on 69 th Street Terminal on Market Street in Upper Darby , Delaware County. There is a connection to 17 bus routes as well as the suburban trams 101 and 102 of the Suburban Transit Division , which open up the western suburbs of Philadelphia. A turning loop connects to the west of the station; the area of ​​the main workshop and the depot is to the north of it and is reached via a 90-degree curve.

From the 69 th Street from the route leads first to the northeast, and then in an arc and at ground level around the location Millbourne around. About 800 feet (nearly 250 meters) west of the station 63 rd Street begins the elevated road section. Behind it, the route crosses Cobbs Creek , which marks the city limits of Philadelphia. There it meets again on Market Street and continues east over it. The inner city tunnel , which is almost six kilometers long, begins behind the 46th Street station . In the amount of 33 rd Street which then lead Subway-Surface Trolley Lines into the now four-track tunnel. The trains of the Market – Frankford Line use the inner pair of tracks and the underground trams the outer, with no track connection over the entire length. The following stations 30 th Street and 15 th Street are served together on various platforms. In between are with 22 nd Street and 19 th Street two stations where only the Subway-Surface Lines with.

5 th Street subway station .

After crossing under the Schuylkill , the route reaches the city center. There, the tracks of the subway Surface Lines end in a loop in front of the station 13 th Street , and only the Market-Frankford Line continues east to the banks of the Delaware . There it turns north and reappears in the median of Interstate 95 on the surface. Behind the Spring Garden station in the middle of the freeway, it runs along North Front Street as an elevated railway further north. At York – Dauphin station , it turns northeast onto Kensington Avenue and shortly before Church station it reaches Frankford Avenue and finally the terminus at Frankford Transportation Center .

The Frankford Transportation Center station is located in the middle of the Frankford district on the southwest tip of the North Cedar Hill Cemetery. Until it was modernized in 2003, it was named Bridge-Pratt after two streets crossing there. A bus station is located directly under the platform. To the north of the station is the depot, which can be reached via a double curve. There is also a parking garage with 1,000 parking spaces.

Originally there was also a branch line down to the ferry docks on the Delaware, the Delaware Avenue Elevated . They chained behind the station 2 nd Street south and led along the shoreline of the Delaware to South Street. It served to connect the ferry docks on the Delaware and included the stations Chestnut Street and South Street . This route, also known as the "Ferry Line" because of its feeder function , was closed in 1953.

Of the total of 28 remaining stations, 16 are elevated, three are at ground level, nine are in the tunnel. In the city center, the stations are much closer together than on the periphery. Most of the stations are now handicapped accessible.

history

The Market Street Subway-Elevated Line

Market Street was the main east-west street.

In the mid-19th century, Philadelphia was one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. The city owes this primarily to its well-developed public transport infrastructure in the form of horse-drawn buses and trams. Market Street was the main artery in the east-west direction. With the increasing number of inhabitants and the rapid expansion of the city towards the west, especially along this road, the previous means of transport with their average speed of 4 mph (6.43 km / h) were less and less able to meet the requirements.

In addition, some important city facilities, such as the hospital and universities, were west of the Schuylkill. With the 1864 opened West Philadelphia Station of the Pennsylvania Railroad also an important transportation hub for passenger traffic originated.

The first plans to build an elevated railway along this important east-west axis began as early as the 1890s. But the project was initially to fail due to resistance from residents, rising costs and technical imponderables. It was not until shortly after the turn of the century that outside investors announced themselves that the previous tram monopoly Union Traction founded the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT) in order to obtain the necessary money and the building permit. This combination should finally clear the way for the envisaged transport project.

The PRT began in 1903 with the construction of the Market Street Subway-Elevated Line along Market Street. The first section between 69 th Street and 15 th Street was on March 4, 1907 in operation. The tunnel until 2 nd Street followed on 3 August 1908. The station Chestnut Street and the ferry dock on the Delaware were on September 7, South Street reached on 4 October of the same year. The subsidiary responsible for the operation was called Market Street Elevated Passenger Railway Company .

The line was originally designed as an elevated railway from the west up to 30 th Street. There the route was swiveled to the north and crossed the Schuylkill on a separate bridge parallel to Market Street. On the other bank, the line joins the subway surface lines in the four-track tunnel at 22nd Street.

The Frankford Elevated Railway

At $ 18 million to build, the Market Street Line turned out to be twice as expensive as originally thought and put the PRT in financial trouble. The demands of the city to build more elevated railways could no longer be met for reasons of cost. Even the originally planned loop in the downtown area at Broad Street, 8 th Street, Walnut Street and Arch Street was no longer being built.

Thus, in 1915, the city began building the elevated railway north towards Frankford on its own. The Frankford Elevated Railway should be between the stations 2 nd Street and Chestnut Street branch off from the Market Street Line and along Kensington Avenue to Frankford and beyond into Holmesburg run. After completion of the route, it was to be rented to the PRT for operation. The technical equipment was chosen to be compatible with the Market Street Line so that continuous operation was possible. The trains should now turn in relation 69 th  Street - South Street and 69 th  Street going -Frankford Holmes castle.

The Frankford Elevated was originally supposed to be completed in 1918, but a shortage of materials during the First World War delayed the work, so that the line could not go into operation until November 5, 1922. For financial reasons, the elevated railway was only completed as far as Bridge Street in Frankford, today's Frankford Transportation Center , and was thus three miles shorter than originally planned.

Technical features

Support structure of the Market Street Line with the protruding side members.

When it opened, the Market Street Line had some technical innovations and special features that were also adopted at Frankford Elevated. These included electrically remote-controlled switches , electro-pneumatic train protection and a new type of conductor rail that was painted from below. Along the elevated sections of the route, longitudinal beams protruding upwards with mounted catwalks for the route personnel were attached on both sides of the route . This was to prevent derailed trains from falling off the route.

The elevated sections of the route were designed as a steel supporting structure. A row of columns was anchored in the ground along the left and right of the route, each of which was spanned lengthways with a truss . In turn, a new type of concrete trough with girder formwork and cross members running underneath was placed between these longitudinal girders. Ballasted sleeper tracks were laid on it, which greatly reduced the noise development compared to other elevated railways from this time. The track width of 1581 mm (5 feet 2.25 inches) corresponded to the so-called Pennsylvania broad gauge, which was previously used on the PRT trams. The Market – Frankford Line is apparently the only rapid transit railway in the world with this gauge.

In the change of time

When the Benjamin Franklin Bridge was opened in 1926 , the number of passengers in the direction of the ferry terminal dropped noticeably. Strengthened even further than this development after the commissioning of the bridge line in June 1936 a rail link from the 8 th Street was across the Delaware over to Camden. The trips to South Street were then reduced in number from 1937 and in 1939 "temporarily" suspended. The service was resumed during the Second World War , but finally ceased on October 31, 1953, 19 months after the end of the ferry service. The stretch was then dismantled.

Entrance to the Station 34 th Street .

Due to the steady increase in traffic jams in the city center, the city was forced to replace part of the elevated railway along Market Street with a subway tunnel. For this purpose the existing center tunnel of the 22 should nd Street under the Schuylkill through to the 44 th are extended Street. The subway surface lines should also receive new tunnel openings off Market Street. Construction began on the $ 29 million project in 1930, but financial and technical problems brought the company to an end in 1933. At this time, the tunnel was up to the level 32 nd completed Street under construction. In the following years, the Second World War prevented further construction, so that work could not be resumed until 1947. The tunnel was finally opened on October 31, 1955 and the elevated railway was dismantled in the following months. The construction costs were at the end of 40 million dollars.

When Interstate 95 was built in the mid-1970s , a section of Frankford Elevated had to be relocated. The original elevated railway line between the eastern tunnel ramp and Girard station along North Front Street was demolished and the tracks relocated to the central reservation of the motorway. The Fairmount station at the corner of Fairmount Avenue and North Front Street was also replaced by today's Spring Garden station in the central reservation of the freeway. The new station went into operation on May 15, 1977. The 1.2 mile (1.93 km) new line was financed from federal funds for the construction of the motorway.

modernization

63 rd Street before construction.

The PRT was no longer able to overcome the financial problems that the construction of the Market Street Line once brought with it on its own. Necessary modernization and maintenance work was largely omitted in the following decades. As early as the 1950s, an increasing deterioration of the operating facilities became noticeable. Even the takeover of the company by SEPTA, which was supported by public funds, in 1968 did not help. A study from 1983 found that the only economical solution was to completely rebuild the entire length of the route and a large number of stations.

56 th Street upon completion of construction.

After the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) had granted the necessary grants for such a project, work began on the Frankford branch in the late 1980s. The lane and side members of the elevated sections were renewed and most of the stations were made accessible to the disabled. The tracks now run on a slab track in a concrete trough that rests on four parallel girders. The total cost for this section was $ 493 million. A further $ 180 million was spent on building the Frankford Transportation Center through 2006 .

Modernization work has been underway on Market Street since 2002. The entire 11,000-foot (3.36 km) route is to be completely replaced by the fall of 2009 for $ 627 million. For the time being, five new stations will be built. The old supports are to be replaced with new ones in the shape of a T , which will then be placed in the middle to reduce traffic obstructions on the road.

business

Station 60 th Street .

The Market – Frankford Line trains usually consist of six cars and run daily from 5:00 a.m. to 0:30 a.m. Monday to Friday there is a train in each direction at least every 8 minutes during the day, Saturday and Sunday every 10 minutes during the day, and buses run every 15 minutes at night. The travel time between 69 th Street and Frankford Transportation Center is 39 minutes, the bus takes 65 minutes.

Since January 30, 1956, some less frequented stops have been alternately served at rush hour ( skip-stop ) . These stops marked with 'A' and 'B' are all on the Frankford branch. A stops are Berks , Huntingdon and Tioga , B stops York-Dauphin , Somerset and Church . The trains have a light indicator for the two letters in the middle of the front to identify the stops served.

In 2005 the Market – Frankford Line had 52.2 million passengers. The trains covered a total of 13.84 million commercial vehicle kilometers in the same period. With total sales of $ 54.31 million and operating costs of $ 86.6 million, it achieved a cost recovery ratio of 63%, which is a high value by US standards.

vehicles

To date (2007) four different vehicle types have been used on the Market – Frankford Line for passenger transport.

Class A-8

The PRT purchased the first 40 Class A-8 solo multiple units for its Market Street Line from Pressed Steel Car , Pittsburgh. Due to the increased volume of traffic, a further 175 cars of the same type were successively procured in the first five years after the line was opened, the last 80 of which were built by J. G. Brill and Company , Philadelphia. The class A-8 cars were given the numbers 1–215.

The vehicles had a steel car body with three compressed air operated, single-leaf pocket sliding doors on each side. The doors were at the far ends and in the middle of the car. The cars were thus similar to the types that the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) had previously procured for their New York subway. Two traction motors, each with 125 hp, provided the drive. The interior was lined with mahogany and rattan seats offered space for 52 people. A central control system and the elimination of non-motorized trailers made it possible to create trains of any length; a practice taken over from the London Underground .

Class A-15

For the Frankford Elevated Railway, other vehicles were procured that had the same drive technology, but could not be coupled with the A-8. The main external features of this Class A-15 were the flat roof and a different arrangement of the doors, which were more evenly distributed over the long side. This door arrangement was apparently first used successfully in 1912 on what is now the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Red Line . The 100 cars with the numbers 501–600 were again delivered by Brill in 1922.

M-3

Both vehicle types were ready for replacement in the mid-1950s. But the legal successor of the PRT, the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC), who has been in charge since 1940, was unable to raise the necessary financial resources. In 1956, the city finally stepped in and bought 270 new express train cars for a total of $ 24.5 million and leased them to PTC.

The type M-3 railcar built by Budd was designed primarily for high acceleration values, high speed and long durability. All axles were driven with 100 hp each, so that the travel time between the end stations was reduced from 45 to the current 39 minutes, and the car body was made of stainless steel . In addition, the M-3 had four distinctive ventilation scoops on the roof, which were intended to compensate for the lack of air conditioning . This peculiarity earned him the nickname "Almond Joy" (German: "Almond joy" , meaning "Almond bonnet" , idiomatic " Kinder Riegel " ) after a well-known chocolate bar . The 46 single multiple units with the numbers 601–646 and 112 double multiple units with the numbers 701–924 were delivered in 1959–61.

M-4

The train type M-4.

The M-3 cars were taken out of service as early as 1997, a good ten years before the end of their forecast service life. This was due not only to the lack of air conditioning, but also to some signs of aging caused by the increasing delay in maintenance. As a result, for example, on March 7, 1990, there was a serious accident with four deaths and 158 injured when a train derailed near 30 th Street station at early morning rush hour because an engine bearing broke.

The successor to the M-3 was the M-4 from Adtranz in 1997-99 . This also has a car body made of stainless steel. In addition, there are three-phase motors for correspondingly high acceleration values ​​and equipment suitable for the disabled. The high cross-section of the inner city tunnel made it possible to mount the air conditioning on the vehicle roof. The 110 double railcars were given the numbers 1001 to 1220 and cost $ 1.29 million each.

literature

Web links

Commons : Market – Frankford Line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ^ Edward L. Woods, Thomas A. Nuxoll: The Frankford Elevated Reconstruction Project . (PDF; 94 kB) In: 1999 Track & Structures Annual Conference , American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA). Chicago 1999, p. 9 (on the side busbar coated from below )
  2. ^ H. Wagner, G. Mandel: traffic tunnel construction. Ernst, Berlin 1968-69, p. 530 (corresponds to 5 feet 2.25 inches)
  3. a b c track plan (GIF images in zip file)
  4. This map from 1923 shows the station names, this map from 1932 shows the position of the ferry docks on the Delaware.
  5. a b c The provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 apply . See also: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in the English language Wikipedia
  6. a b Route plan ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (PDF)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.septa.org
  7. ^ Warner Jr., S. Bass: The Private City: Philadelphia in Three Periods of Its Growth . University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1968. pp. 56f.
  8. Jeffrey P. Roberts: Railroads and the Downtown: Philadelphia 1830-1900 . In: William W. Cutler III, H. Gilette Jr. (Eds.): The Divided Metropolis: Social and Spatial Dimensions of Philadelphia, 1800-1975 . Greenwood Press, Westport CT 1980, pp. 28f.
  9. ^ Leon S. Rosenthal: A History of Philadelphia's University City . University of Pennsylvania Printing Office, Philadelphia 1963. pp. 52f.
  10. ^ A b Harold E. Cox: The Road from Upper Darby: the Story of the Market Street Subway-Elevated . Electric Railroaders' Association Inc., New York 1967, p. 3.
  11. a b c Darlington et al .: Market-Frankford El .
  12. ^ A b Harold E. Cox: The Road from Upper Darby . Electric Railroaders' Association Inc., New York 1967, p. 15
  13. The following pictures show the Market Street Line in its original course: First, the route is swiveled to the north at the height of the later 30 th Street Station ( ectma.org ). They then crossed together with the Subway-Surface Lines the Schuylkill ( ectma.org ) and finally reached the tunnel opening before the 22 nd Street. ( Ectma.org ) The building with the two-tone facade in the background of the first and third image is Market corner 22 nd Street and exists today (2007) still. (Photos: Henry J. Adamcik Photo Collection)
  14. Historic American Engineering Record: Market Street Elevated Railway, Market Street between Sixty-ninth & Forty-sixth Streets, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA , in: Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress), Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division , Washington, DC 20540 USA, p. 9.
  15. Historic American Engineering Record: Frankford Elevated, 52100-5400 Frankford Avenue (guideway & stations), Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA , in: Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress), Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, DC 20540 USA, p. 2.
  16. ^ A b Historic American Engineering Record: Market Street Elevated Railway, Market Street between Sixty-ninth & Forty-sixth Streets, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA , in: Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress), Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, DC 20540 USA, pp. 6f.
  17. Such accidents had already occurred frequently in New York City. See also New York City Subway # accidents
  18. List of gauges
  19. ^ Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA): A History of Commitment ( Memento of October 8, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ELEVATED CLOSED IN PHILADELPHIA; Subway Extension Replaces Market Street Tracks - First Run Tomorrow . In: The New York Times, October 30, 1955.
  21. Historic American Engineering Record: Market Street Elevated Railway, Market Street between Sixty-ninth & Forty-sixth Streets, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA , in: Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress), Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division , Washington, DC 20540 USA, p. 12. Note: The date given here for the track opening (November 6, 1955) is incorrect.
  22. ^ Market – Frankford Line in the English language Wikipedia
  23. ^ Brian J. Cudahy: A Century of Subways: Celebrating 100 Years of New York's Underground Railways . Fordham University Press, New York NY 2004, ISBN 0-8232-2293-4 , p. 281.
  24. ^ Edward L. Woods, Thomas A. Nuxoll: The Frankford Elevated Reconstruction Project . (PDF; 94 kB) In: American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA): 1999 Track & Structures Annual Conference, Chicago 1999. p. 5.
  25. ^ Edward L. Woods, Thomas A. Nuxoll: The Frankford Elevated Reconstruction Project . (PDF; 94 kB) In: American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA): 1999 Track & Structures Annual Conference, Chicago 1999. p. 11.
  26. ^ Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA): SEPTA Capital Improvements in the City of Philadelphia, July 2006 . ( Memento of October 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) 2006, p. 5.
  27. ^ Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA): SEPTA Capital Improvements in the City of Philadelphia, July 2006 . ( Memento of October 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) 2006, p. 7.
  28. ^ The Market Street Corridor in West Philadelphia A Report on the West Market Street Planning & Implementation Task Force
  29. Timetable ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (PDF)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.septa.org
  30. ^ Fiscal Year 2007 - Annual Service Plan - Service Planning May 2006 . ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (PDF) Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), 2006, p. 79.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.septa.org
  31. Farebox recovery ratio in the English language Wikipedia
  32. cf. Photos of an A-8 and a Hi-V from the IRT
  33. ^ Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, 1908.
  34. ^ A b R. Carson: A Ride On The El - Septa'S Market-Frankford Line . ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) 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. In: Carson Home Video. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.trainstation.com
  35. Photos of the A-15: at the bridge over the Schuylkill ( ectma.org ) and after the conversion as a work car ( world.nycsubway.org ).
  36. ^ Harold E. Cox: The Road from Upper Darby: the Story of the Market Street Subway-Elevated . Electric Railroaders' Association Inc., New York 1967, p. 32.
  37. Photo of an M-3 .
  38. "... the fleet of cars [...] involved in the accident was 30 years old and should soon be replaced." - System Is Cited in Subway Crash . In: The New York Times , February 22, 1991.
  39. The title of the work is correct "Philadelphia's Rapid Transit: [...]"
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on April 9, 2008 .