Trolley service will not operate for approximately 10 days in Philadelphia’s Center City Tunnel due to track maintenance and construction work, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) announced.
Specifically, SEPTA Trolley Routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36 will not operate in the Center City tunnel from 10 p.m. on Friday, August 9, through 4 a.m. on Monday, August 19. Trolley service will begin and end at 40th and Market Streets. Trolleys will use their alternate diversion service routing to connect to SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line at 40th and Market Streets. Passengers can board the Market-Frankford Line at 40th Street Station for travel to-and-from Center City, as the work efforts will not affect that service.
This is the seventh straight summer that SEPTA has held what it calls the Trolley Tunnel Blitz, where crews work around-the-clock on crucial maintenance and construction tasks throughout the five-mile Center City tunnel. It is being done in the summer when ridership is typically lower and the impact to commuters will not be as great.
SEPTA’s Trolley Tunnel Blitz is part of the Authority’s “Rebuilding the SEPTA System” capital program and funded through Pennsylvania Act 89, a long-term funding solution for critical highway and transit infrastructure needs across the Commonwealth.
“The Trolley Blitzes allow our crews to get productive work windows to complete necessary repairs and improvements they otherwise would not be able to because the tunnel is used 24 hours a day,” SEPTA General Manager Jeffrey Knueppel said. “The program we have implemented over the past six summers has vastly improved the Tunnel’s infrastructure and greatly increased trolley service reliability through the tunnel.”
SEPTA crews will replace the curved rail eastbound and westbound west of 33rd Street Station and perform general track repair at the 37th Street Station eastbound platform and near the station. They will also replace wood protection board on the westbound side of the tunnel between 19th Street-22nd Street Stations and replace the crossing points of two rails at the Ludlow interlocking. Further, they will install new energy efficient lighting within the tunnel between 36th and 37th Street Stations and perform heavy maintenance tasks at all stations, including graffiti removal, tile repair, painting, among other tasks. In addition, crews will test emergency generators and lighting throughout the tunnel, check for water leaks, and inspect track signals and circuits.
“The projects we work on during the blitzes improve safety and service reliability throughout the Trolley Tunnel,” Knueppel said. “We thank our customers for their continued support and understanding during these closures. We will work to make this year’s blitz as productive and successful as in previous years.”