SEPTA's subway–surface trolley route 34, also called the Baltimore 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
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, to the
Angora Loop station in the
Angora neighborhood of
West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...
.
At , it is the shortest of SEPTA's five
subway–surface trolley lines, which operate on street-level
tracks in West Philadelphia and
Delaware County,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, and in a shared subway with
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
trains in
Center City.
Route description
Starting from its eastern end at the 13th Street station, Route 34 runs in a tunnel under
Market Street Market Street may refer to:
*Market Street, Cambridge, England
*Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
* Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
*Market Street, Manchester, England
*Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
...
. 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
The Market–Frankford Line (MFL) (also called the Market–Frankford Subway–Elevated Line (MFSE), the Market–Frankford El (MFE), the El (), or the Blue Line) is one of three rapid transit lines in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it and the Broad ...
.
Passengers may transfer free of charge to the Market–Frankford Line at 13th, 15th, and 30th Streets and to the
Broad Street Line
The Broad Street Line (BSL), also known as the Broad Street subway (BSS), Orange Line, or Broad Line, is a subway line owned by the city of Philadelphia and operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). The line r ...
at 15th Street. Connections to the
SEPTA Regional Rail
The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and serving the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelp ...
are also available. Underground passageways connect the 13th and 15th Street Stations to
Jefferson Station and
Suburban Station.
Route 34 surfaces at the
40th Street Portal near 40th Street and
Baltimore Avenue
The Baltimore Pike was an auto trail connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Today, parts of the road are signed as U.S. Route 1 (US 1), US 13, and a small portion of Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41). A section of the road ...
(
US 13
U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville ...
), then heads west on Baltimore until it ends at a loop at 61st Street.
History
The Delaware County and Philadelphia Electric Railway Company installed transit tracks for
horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
s running along Baltimore Avenue as early as 1890, but it was the arrival of the electrified trolley two years later that allowed the extension of the line westward to the new community of Angora.
[In 1894, the line was extended to ]Media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
.
The line was routed into the subway–surface tunnel on December 15, 1906. The route was called the Angora Line until it was given the number 34 in 1911.
In April 2020, the line's operations were suspended due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Service resumed on May 17, 2020.
Stations and stops
All are in the
City of Philadelphia.
References
External links
*
1974 Philadelphia Trolley Brochure, pages 12-13an
{{DEFAULTSORT:Septa Route 34
34
Tram routes in Philadelphia