Route of the Week - Broad Street Line
April 29, 2019
This week, we're exploring one of SEPTA's most familiar routes, the Broad Street Line! The Broad Street Line spans 10 miles and has 22 stations along its route. Local trains run every 7 minutes during AM and PM rush. Train times vary for the rest of the day, but the longest length between train times is 12 minutes. Express trains also run on a separate track and stop at 8 of the 22 stations. During peak times express trains run every 7 minutes, while during off peak hours express trains come every 12 minutes.
On a typical weekday, the BSL makes 626 trips and carries a total of 111,575 passengers. This makes it SEPTA’s second busiest traveled route, after the Market-Frankford Line!
The Broad Street Line began service September 1, 1928, running between City Hall and Olney Avenue. That's nearly 91 years of service!
Service to the Walnut-Locust Station did not begin until 1930. In 1932, Lombard-South Station entered service.. Service from that point south to Snyder began on September 18, 1938. Service did not extend to Pattison Avenue, now known as NRG Station, until 1973.
In 1975, the Broad Street Line played host to the State-of-the-Art Car. The State-of-the-Art Car (SOAC) was a heavy rail mass transit demonstrator vehicle produced for the United States Department of Transportation's Urban Mass Transportation Administration in the 1970s. It was intended to demonstrate the latest technologies to operating agencies and the riding public, and serve to promote existing and proposed transit lines. It operated in intermittent revenue service on six rapid transit systems in five United States cities, visiting Philadelphia in 1975.
Running the Blue Cross Broad Street Run this Sunday? Ride the Broad Street Line free! Any participant in the Broad Street Run may ride the Broad Street Line to the starting line [and back to the start or home] for free when they show their bib.
Whether you’re headed to run Broad Street, to class at Temple University, out to dinner in East Passyunk, or to watch the Sixers or the Phillies, the Broad Street Line is the best way there!
