52nd Street/Center City (City Branch) Long List Posted

Hey for those of you who hate that SEPTA lets the City Branch sit unused, they are continueing with the normal red tape associated with Federal New Transit Starts.

http://www.septa.org/news/construction/ ... atives.pdf

It's an odd document, that includes both BRT and diesel LTR mentioned (The river line of course.)

The sad news is that apparently SEPTA won't persue anything past the planning stages unless they get SVM off the ground...

Its actually refreshing to read something from a transit agency that concedes that, from at least an aesthetic level, people prefer trolleys to buses.

Its was really interesting to find out that the police and wholefoods parking areas are there under septa easement. I wonder how FKK managed to build that parking garage obstructing most of the row just 3 block east of there. I still think the city branch would be better applied to a roxborough subway, connecting into the ridge spur (the city branch already passes under broad, then just needs to tunnel 3-4 blocks to connect). Seems kind of a waste to use it for a single trolley/bus route that originates on the other side of the river. Why not tie the parkside trolley into the old fairmount trolley right of way, then take it down 40th st to lancaster and into the tunnel. Put a standard guage, high platform trolley like the P&W into the city branch, and design it with room for expansion in the event its successful

I still don't know what the SVM is supposed to be. Is it just a project name to be designated an "R" later, or it it some sort of dedicated light rail? In either case, why is it that SEPTA plans to reopen the 52nd street station for SVM but not Regional Rail?

tinmad dog wrote:

I still think the city branch would be better applied to a roxborough subway, connecting into the ridge spur (the city branch already passes under broad, then just needs to tunnel 3-4 blocks to connect).

Not so (IMHO), but there are realisitic options for improved service using the City Branch. Credit goes to others for the majority of the concept I present here.

The RT 48bus is one of the most heavily patronized bus routes. It sees articulated buses frequently, in part because there are no rail services in the immediate vicinity. The Broad Street Subway is about a mile to the east.

Convert RT 48 bus service to a "subway surface" type operation on 29th Street, the City Branch, south on 12th Street, east on Chestnut Street, and north on 11th Street.

For those about to point out the R.O.W. roadblocks, a part of the project would be identifying options to remove the problems. It can be done, but it requires some additional funding and politcal will. Both are sadly lacking.

The parking garage over the City Branch @ 17th/16th Streets only impacts one block, and it seems to me that for one route, a one block segment of single track wouldn't be all that big a deal.

Converting RT 48 to rail would have a great deal more utility than the service proposed by the study, or (frankly) the conversion of RT 15.

See my previous comments in Route 15 Trolley Operation on how the sorry state of public transportation planning in the Philadelphia region leads to a project like the one discussed in this study.

I agree, I read the report in full and thought that there should be better options also.

Why not convert it for two routes The current Subway-Surface has one track each way, why not this too. The Route 48 could use the ROW and also an extension to West Philadelphia serving the Zoo, and the new Microsoft High School. I think the line should be extended into more of the Overbrook/City Avenue area which is poorly served by bus routes that wind through west philly before hitting center city. Maybe this extension could replace route 38 or route 40 in part.