Return of Route 15 light rail line.

Clearfield wrote: Some Route 15 bus stops will be discontinued with the return of trolley service primarily to ensure safe boarding and exiting of the cars. Signs will be posted at these stops informing customers of this change, effective September 4, 2005. The ‘Stop Discontinued’ list is attached for your reference.

Route 15 Discontinued Stop List


 Girard at 62nd Street - (eastbound)
 Girard at 58th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 55th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 53rd Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 50th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at Merion - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at E. Lancaster - (westbound)
 Girard at 46th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 38th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 30th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard & 22nd/Wall - (eastbound & westbound)
 West College & Girard - (westbound)
 Girard at Hospital - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 15th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 13th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 10th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at 6th Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at W. 4th Street - (eastbound)
 Girard at Marlborough Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at Montgomery Street - (eastbound & westbound)
 Girard at Susquehanna Avenue - (eastbound & westbound)

Some of these discontinued stops don't make much sense to me. The physical characteristics of the street corners at, say 55th Street are no different than 56th, 57th, or 54th Street. 62nd & Girard is a quieter intersection than 62nd & Haverford, and I notice THAT stop is not on the list.

I'd bet all those stops will be restored within a year or two. Philadelphians traditionally have a hatred of having bus stops along a route discontinued (witness the fact that all the discontinued stops along Route 10 were quietly restored without fanfare).

Finally a public official word from SEPTA on the Route 15 on today's Metro Page:

http://www.septa.org/news/metro/metro_page.html

Silverliner II wrote:

Clearfield wrote: I'd bet all those stops will be restored within a year or two. Philadelphians traditionally have a hatred of having bus stops along a route discontinued (witness the fact that all the discontinued stops along Route 10 were quietly restored without fanfare).

You are VERY correct.

God forbid if some poor, fat slob have to walk an extra couple of hundred feet to a bus/trolley stop! Considering that this city is one of the FATTEST cities in the country, it's no surprise. Yet we complain about the slow service SEPTA provides.

And another thing, why do these community groups like to throw an elderly person to whine about these discontinuances? I guess that the sight of an granny will melt the hearts of the able-bodied serivce planners at SEPTA [not that they are a bright bunch in the first place].

Mdlbigcat wrote:

Silverliner II wrote:

Clearfield wrote: I'd bet all those stops will be restored within a year or two. Philadelphians traditionally have a hatred of having bus stops along a route discontinued (witness the fact that all the discontinued stops along Route 10 were quietly restored without fanfare).

You are VERY correct.

God forbid if some poor, fat slob have to walk an extra couple of hundred feet to a bus/trolley stop! Considering that this city is one of the FATTEST cities in the country, it's no surprise. Yet we complain about the slow service SEPTA provides.

And another thing, why do these community groups like to throw an elderly person to whine about these discontinuances? I guess that the sight of an granny will melt the hearts of the able-bodied serivce planners at SEPTA [not that they are a bright bunch in the first place].

Its exactly why. Up here in Boston, every effort to reduce Green Line stops is met with opposition for how the MBTA is cutting off the elderly from public transit. Usually, the complaints come from the same people who complain about how slow the Green Line and bus service are.

That's what you get with a democracy. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

The trolleys havent even started running yet and I'm already dissapointed! I saw the new hand schedule today and the running time from Allegheny to Front St has been increased to 12 minuetes at wee hours like 3am, and 15-17 minutes during rush hour, compared to 8 to 10 minutes on the bus schedule. I thought trolleys were supposed to be faster!! I was riding the 15 bus today and we already had a wheelchair at Frankford too. I was able to walk to the El faster than the bus could load and contiune on.

The added time is to "compensate" for wheelchairs. Problem is, the current bus schedule is already a mess giving operators too much time, which the operators fixed by leaving Madison loop 4-6 minutes late, which is fine if you're going to Broad Street but screws you if you are going to the El. These schedule planners are totally out to lunch.

Looks like I'll be riding the 60 instead, I think the only thing that will come out of the 15 being a trolley is having nice eye and ear candy.

jfrey40535 wrote:The trolleys havent even started running yet and I'm already dissapointed! I saw the new hand schedule today and the running time from Allegheny to Front St has been increased to 12 minuetes at wee hours like 3am, and 15-17 minutes during rush hour, compared to 8 to 10 minutes on the bus schedule. I thought trolleys were supposed to be faster!! I was riding the 15 bus today and we already had a wheelchair at Frankford too. I was able to walk to the El faster than the bus could load and contiune on.

The added time is to "compensate" for wheelchairs. Problem is, the current bus schedule is already a mess giving operators too much time, which the operators fixed by leaving Madison loop 4-6 minutes late, which is fine if you're going to Broad Street but screws you if you are going to the El. These schedule planners are totally out to lunch.

Looks like I'll be riding the 60 instead, I think the only thing that will come out of the 15 being a trolley is having nice eye and ear candy.

The speed restriction for the trolleys underneath the Conrail tracks on Richmond Street will still apply too, hence the added time.

On 9/4, when will the switchover from bus to trolley occur? Will it be sometime overnight, or will it be around 5 AM?

We should be out there to usher out the last bus....

jfrey40535 wrote:We should be out there to usher out the last bus....

...and then be there to chuckle when that last bus breaks down at 29th & Girard....

Mdlbigcat wrote:On 9/4, when will the switchover from bus to trolley occur? Will it be sometime overnight, or will it be around 5 AM?

4:30 is when the first trolley is scheduled to roll.

Mdlbigcat wrote:On 9/4, when will the switchover from bus to trolley occur? Will it be sometime overnight, or will it be around 5 AM?

The first PCC II will pullout of Callowhill Depot at 12:22 AM, Run 801, Block 9001. This rebuilt PCC car will leave 63 & Girard at 12:30 AM Sunday, September 4th.

Just think the first car arrive at Elmwood Depot September 9, 2003

This is always subject to change!

Bill

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/trolleydriver/girard.htm

So I was driving on Girard near the zoo earlier in the week, thinking of course about how much i can't wait to get the stinking buses out of the area, when I ran into a strange situation.

There was a bus in front of me, honking at a stopped garbage truck, so the bus zips onto the trolley tracks, almost cutting off the trolley behind it. Then in the height of irony it lets off passengers on the center platform and let the trolley speed by.

Anyhow i have also noticed the nice, large signs saying that stops are being discontinued, I can't imagine too many other routes that needed this more.

Has any seen the notices that some buses will also being loading from the center platforms?

I noticed today that there appears to be a repaving project going on at 33rd and Girard along Girard Ave. Yesterday there were two large pavement milling machines sitting along 33rd St (or possibly Poplar Dr.) between Girard and Poplar, and today I didn't see them. It'd appear that whoever did the milling did a good job and left the track's concrete pad alone. I only hope that tommorow I can post that the Rt15's tracks are now flanked by two very nice looking strips of asphalt.

Does anyone know if this resurfacing will have any effect on the Rt15 trolley service resumption? I'm presuming they'll probably be done by Friday as repavings like this seem to go fast, but has anyone heard anything concrete (so to speak)?

The repaving work should be done by Sunday. SEPTA has been FRANTICALLY working on the whole line for the past few months in preparation of restored service. Right in the middle of the intersection of Front and Girard, SEPTA has the dug up the whole area around the tracks for repair / resurfacing. Up and down Richmond St, I saw SPETA crews everyday the past few weeks at different spots fixing minor problems.

These last minute repairs shows that SEPTA really did not have any intention of restoring service until the Daily News brought the 59th street situation to light, sparking the politicos to do something about it and pressure SEPTA to get the trolleys on the rails. I think we should all chip in and buy the “Urban Warrior” dinner