SEPTA Routes 101 and 102
SEPTA Routes 101 and 102 (also known as the Media–Sharon Hill Line or the D1 and D2)[4][5] are light rail lines operated by the Suburban Transit Division of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, serving portions of Delaware County. The route's eastern terminus is 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. Route 101 runs to Media, while Route 102 goes to Sharon Hill. Altogether, the two lines operate on approximately 11.9 miles (19.2 km) of route.[6] The lines are one of the few remaining interurban systems in the United States, along with the South Shore Line in Indiana, the River Line in New Jersey, and the Norristown High Speed Line, also in the Philadelphia area.
Along with the Norristown High-Speed Line, formerly the Philadelphia and Western Railroad, the routes are the remaining lines of the Red Arrow Lines Trolley System once operated by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (successor to the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company); some local residents still call them "Red Arrow".
This route uses 29 Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company Type K LRV cars similar to those used on the SEPTA Subway–Surface Trolley Lines. However, unlike the city cars, the Type K cars on Routes 101 and 102 are double-ended and use pantograph collection instead of trolley poles.
Current system edit
| Route | Length[7] | South Terminal | North Terminal |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1/101 | 8.6 miles (13.8 km) | Media Orange Street at State Street | Upper Darby 69th Street Transportation Center |
| D2/102 | 5.3 miles (8.5 km) | Sharon Hill Sharon Hill |
The 101 and 102 run together on their exclusive right-of-way in Upper Darby to Drexel Hill Junction for approximately 2 miles (3.2 km), at which point they diverge.
Route 101 continues on its own right-of-way traveling west and southwest through Drexel Hill and Springfield with an important stop at the Springfield Mall before entering the street in Media. The 101 has double tracks to Woodland Avenue, then a single track to just before Pine Ridge, then enters the street at Providence Road in Media and runs on a single track the rest of the way. Cars in the street must yield to the trolley. The line terminates in the middle of the street just west of the Delaware County Courthouse.
Route 102 runs southeast from Drexel Hill Junction through Drexel Hill and Clifton Heights and then goes into the street in Aldan. After Aldan, it returns to its own right-of-way, then passes through Collingdale before terminating at Chester Pike in Sharon Hill. The 102 has double tracks until up to North Street in Collingdale, where the 102 returns to its own right-of-way, and after North Street, there is a single track until the end of the line.
Springfield Road contains two stops along both lines. Route 101 stops at Springfield Road in Springfield. Route 102 stops at Springfield Road in Clifton Heights, then joins this street until it moves onto Woodlawn Avenue through Aldan.
History edit
The Sharon Hill Line (Route 102) was originally built by the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company, and opened on March 15, 1906, and the Media Line (Route 101) was originally built by the same company, opening on April 1, 1913.[8] The lines were later bought by the Philadelphia Suburban Transit Company in 1954.
Besides Routes 101 and 102, there were also two other, now defunct, Red Arrow trolley lines. The direct ancestor of the SEPTA Route 104 bus line went to West Chester, splitting off from the rest of the system right after 69th Street Transportation Center onto West Chester Pike. The tracks continued all the way up West Chester Pike. West Chester trolleys were replaced by buses in 1954 due to widening of West Chester Pike; rush-hour trips to Westgate Hills lasted until 1958. Tracks remained in use for access to the Red Arrow's carbarn in Llanerch until SEPTA closed the barn in 1971; all tracks were soon removed except for a portion near 69th Street that SEPTA occasionally uses to store out-of service trolleys. The other now-defunct Red Arrow trolley line went to Ardmore until December 1966. It split from the West Chester line at Llanerch and continued on its own exclusive right-of-way. Much of the right-of-way still remains between Schauffele Plaza in Ardmore (the former terminus of the line) and Eagle Road in Havertown, although the tracks were removed and the right-of-way paved for dedicated use by the replacement bus line, now SEPTA Route 103. The 103 still uses this private right-of-way, although much of its other street routing has changed.
On April 1, 2020, service on Route 102 was suspended while Route 101 was substituted with buses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trolley service on both routes resumed June 1, 2020.[9][10][11]
- Proposed new logo for the Delaware Lines under the SEPTA Metro wayfinding project[12]
- Proposed new logo for Route 101 under the SEPTA Metro wayfinding project[12]
- Proposed new logo for Route 102 under the SEPTA Metro wayfinding project[12]
In 2021, SEPTA proposed rebranding their rail transit service as "SEPTA Metro", to make the system easier to navigate. Under this proposal, the Media and Sharon Hill lines will be rebranded as the "D" lines (for "Delaware", the county in which the trolley routes are located) with a pink color and numeric suffixes for each service. The 101 and 102 will respectively be rebranded as the D1 69th St / Orange St and D2 69th St / Sharon Hill.[13][12] After a period of public comment, SEPTA revised its plans to primarily refer to the line as the "D Line," without number designations, as well as to rethink the name of the Route 101's "Orange Street" terminal station name.[14]
Future rolling stock edit
In 2023, SEPTA awarded Alstom Transportation the contract to furbish 130 new low-floor trolleys, with an option for 30 more. The trolleys will be of Alstom's Citadis family and will be 80 feet in length and fully ADA-compliant, which the current Kawasaki trolleys from the early 1980s are not.[15] The trolleys will be distributed among SEPTA's Routes 101 and 102 in Delaware County, and its subway-surface lines and Route 15 in neighboring Philadelphia. The first trolley is expected to be delivered from Alstom in the Spring of 2027, with the last trolley to be delivered sometime in 2030.
With SEPTA Trolley Modernization happening, SEPTA is proposing to extend Route 102 to Darby Transportation Center. This extension would connect Route 102 with SEPTA Route 11 and SEPTA Route 13.
Media stops edit
Media is the western terminus of the Route 101 trolley line just west of the Orange Street intersection with State Street, the latter of which the trolley runs down the center line. Despite being located in the town, there is no direct connection to the Media station of the Media/Wawa Line which is a mile to the south on Orange Street and partly through a wooded area.
Stations and stops edit
| Location | Station/stop | Connections | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Route 101 (Media branch) | |||
| Media | Orange Street | 110 | Route 101 western terminus |
| Veterans Square | |||
| Olive Street | |||
| Jackson Street | 118 | ||
| Monroe Street | |||
| Edgemont Street | |||
| Manchester Avenue | |||
| Providence Road | Begin right-of-way and two-track operation Formerly known as Bowling Green | ||
| Beatty Road | |||
| Springfield | Pine Ridge | Tracks converge east of here | |
| Paper Mill Road | Serves Smedley Park SEPTA's least used station[16][17] | ||
| Springfield Mall | 107, 109, 110 | Formerly known as Sproul Road | |
| Thomson Avenue | |||
| Woodland Avenue | Resume two-track operation east of here | ||
| Leamy Avenue | |||
| Saxer Avenue | |||
| Springfield Road | |||
| Scenic Road | |||
| Drexel Hill | Drexeline | ||
| Drexelbrook | |||
| Anderson Avenue | |||
| Aronimink | |||
| School Lane | |||
| Huey Avenue | |||
| Route 102 (Sharon Hill branch) | |||
| Sharon Hill | Sharon Hill | 114, 115 | Route 102 western terminus |
| Collingdale | MacDade Boulevard | 113 | Formerly known as Collingdale |
| Andrews Avenue | |||
| Bartram Avenue | |||
| North Street | Tracks leave right-of-way and merge with Woodlawn Avenue north of here | ||
| Aldan | Magnolia Avenue | ||
| Providence Road | |||
| Shisler Avenue | Station closed on March 15, 2010 | ||
| Clifton Heights | Clifton-Aldan | Media/Wawa Line | Tracks transition onto Springfield Road |
| Springfield Road | Tracks leave Springfield Road for right-of-way south of here | ||
| Penn Street | |||
| Baltimore Avenue | 109 | ||
| Drexel Hill | Creek Road | Located in Indian Rock Park Formerly known as Oakview | |
| Marshall Road | |||
| Drexel Manor | |||
| Garrettford | |||
| Routes 101 & 102 (Common section) | |||
| Drexel Hill | Drexel Hill Junction | 107 | Also known as Shadeland Avenue Routes 101 and 102 diverge west of here |
| Irvington Road | Bypassed by Route 101 rush hour express service | ||
| Drexel Park | Bypassed by Route 101 rush hour express service Also called Fairfax Road | ||
| Upper Darby | Lansdowne Avenue | 107, 115 | |
| Congress Avenue | Bypassed by Route 101 rush hour express service | ||
| Beverly Boulevard | Bypassed by Route 101 rush hour express service Formerly known as Beverly Hills | ||
| Hilltop Road | Bypassed by Route 101 rush hour express service | ||
| Avon Road | Bypassed by Route 101 rush hour express service Formerly known as Bywood | ||
| Walnut Street | Bypassed by Route 101 rush hour express service | ||
| Fairfield Avenue | Bypassed by Route 101 rush hour express service Tracks merge with street east of here | ||
| 69th Street T.C. | MFL Market–Frankford Line, NHSL Norristown High Speed Line 21, 30, 65 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 120, 123, 126 | ||
- Route 101 LRV in Media
- Private right-of-way outside Media
- Front of Route 101 LRV in Media with the sign set for its next outbound trip to Sharon Hill on Route 102.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Fiscal Year 2021 Service Plan Update". SEPTA. June 2020. p. 24. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
- ^ "The history of trolley cars and routes in Philadelphia". SEPTA. June 1, 1974. p. 2. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
An early city ordinance prescribed that all tracks were to have a gauge of 5' 21⁄4".
- ^ Hilton, George W.; Due, John Fitzgerald (January 1, 2000). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804740142. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
- ^ "101 and 102 Official map". Retrieved July 22, 2018.
- ^ "SEPTA Capital Improvements in Delaware County" (PDF). SEPTA. December 2007. p. 4. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- ^ Demery, Leroy W. Jr. (November 2011). (PDF). publictransit.us. pp. 37–40. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^ "SEPTA – Spring 2012 Route Statistics" (PDF). Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
- ^ "Philadelphia Suburban Transit Routes". ChicagoRailFan.net.
- ^ "Service Information". SEPTA. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ "SEPTA Transit Network Lifeline Service Schedule" (PDF). SEPTA. April 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ "Service Temporarily Suspended" (PDF). SEPTA. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Wayfinding Recommendations". SEPTA. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ Vitarelli, Alicia; Staff (September 7, 2021). "SEPTA Metro? Transit agency mulling big changes including new name, map, and signage". Philadelphia, PA: WPVI-TV. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Design Concept Feedback". planning.septa.org. SEPTA. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
- ^ "SEPTA contracts Alstom for Citadis light-rail vehicles". MassTransit. June 6, 2023. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
- ^ Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) (May 2018). "Modern Trolley Station Design Guide - SEPTA Suburban Transit Division" (PDF). DVRPC. p. A-28. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ "Fiscal Year 2021 Service Plan Update". SEPTA. June 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
External links edit
- (PDF)
- Rt. 101/102 – Media/Sharon Hill; Images, guide, and slight history at World-NYC Subway.org