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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has some 5 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area and is situated half way between New York and Washington.

Philadelphia boasts one of America's most diversified urban rail networks, with subway, elevated, trams on the surface and in tunnel, as well as an extensive suburban railway system. Except the PATCO Line, all lines are operated by SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority).

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- 20.5 km (5.8 km underground through city centre)
- 28 stations
- between 15th St (next to City Hall) and 30th St the tunnel has 4 tracks, the outer tracks being used by the trolleys coming from the western part of town.
- 1588 mm gauge
- 3rd rail (600 V)
- platform length 106 m

1907: 69th St- 15th St (all elevated)
1908: 15th St - 2nd St (underground)
1915-1922: 2nd St - Frankford (Bridge-Pratt) (elevated)
1955: 40th St - 15th St rebuilt underground

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Broad Street Line - 15.8 km (all underground except Fern Rock station) - 22 stations
Broad-Ridge Spur - 2.4 km - 3 stations (underground)

- Between Olney and Walnut-Locust 4 tracks: 2 local and 2 express tracks.
- Trains serving the Broad-Ridge Spur also stop at Girard, North Philadelphia, Erie and Olney (and Fern Rock during peak hours).
- 1435 mm gauge
- 3rd rail (600 V)
- platform length 168 m

1928: Olney - City Hall
1930: City Hall - Lombard South
1932: 8th St - Girard (Broad Ridge Spur)
1938: Lombard South- Snyder
1956: Olney- Fern Rock
1973: Snyder- Pattison

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The Market Street tram tunnel was built together with the Market-Frankford Line and is served by a total of five streetcar (trolley) lines, which run mostly on-street through the western parts of Philadelphia. West of 30th Street station, the tram tunnel diverges from the Subway towards the south. There is a separate tunnel portal at 36th Street used by line 10 to Overbrook only, while lines 11 (Darby), 13 (Yeadon), 34 (Angora) and 36 (Eastwick) continue underground to the 40th Street portal. At 13th Street, the trolleys turn round in a loop that burrows beneath the Market-Frankford Line tracks.

- 3.8 km (40th St - 13th St)
- 8 underground stops

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The PATCO (Port Authority Transit Corporation) Line links Philadelphia with Camden and Lindenwold in New Jersey. The PATCO Line runs underground from its Philadelphia terminus as 15th/16th St on Locust Street to a point past 8th St, then crosses the Delaware River on the lower deck of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, before returning underground through Camden town centre. The southern leg lies on an embankment with elevated stations from Ferry Ave to Lindenwold (except for Haddonfield station, which is in an open cutting).

- 23.3 km (4.6 km underground, 3.7 km elevated) - 13 stations
- 1435 mm gauge
- 3rd rail (685 V)
- 125 m island platforms
- average station distance 1790 m
- operates all around the clock

1938: 8th - Walter Rand Transportation Center (formerly Broadway)
1953: 8th - 15th/16th
1969: Walter Rand Transportation Center - Lindenwold

Route No. 100 is a 21.3 km light rail line, which starts at the western terminus of the Market-Frankford Line at 69th Street Terminal and serves the western suburbs and Norristown. This line is totally segregated from other traffic and uses 3rd-rail power supply. Stops have high platforms.

Routes No. 101 to Media and No. 102 to Sharon Hill are two tramway lines, which run partly on a separate right-of-way, and partly on-street (especially line 101 on its last stretch through Media). The two routes share the first 3.4 km along Garrett Road to Drexel Hill Junction, from where line 101 continues for approx. 10 km to Media, and line 102 for 5 km to Sharon Hill.

 Projects

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- OPERATION

Market-Frankford Line: 05:00-24:00; every 4 min during peak hours, every 8 min during daytime service.

Broad Street Line: 05:00-24:00; every 7-8 min local service between Fern Rock and Pattison; every 7-8 min express service between Fern Rock and Walnut-Locust (stopping at Olney, Erie, Girard, Spring Garden, Race-Vine and City Hall); every 7-14 min between Olney and 8th St (Broad-Ridge Spur; some trains to/from Fern Rock)

PATCO: 00:00-24:00; every 4-12 min during peak hours, every 12 min or less during daytime service, every 15 min or less in the evening, and every 30-40 min at nighttime.

- FARES (2008)

SEPTA

Base single fare for subway and trolleys - $2.00; special fares for Route 100 and Regional Rail
1 token - $1.45 (available in packs of 2, 5, or 10 tokens)
Transfer - 75 cents

1-Day-Pass - $6.00 (valid for 8 trips, except Regional Rail)
Weekly TransPass - $20.75

A TransPass is valid for unlimited travel within the City fare zone on Surface, Light Rail or Subway-Elevated Line, and Regional Rail.

PATCO - $1.15 - $2.45 depending on distance travelled

SEPTA - Official Page

PATCO - Official Page

Philadelphia Transit (at nycsubway.org)

UrbanRail.Net Philadelphia Subway Photo Gallery

Philadelphia Rail (many photos, at nycrail.com by Harry Beck)

Jon Bell's Philadelphia page

Philadelphia Transportation Page

Norristown Line (at nycsubway.org)

Map showing all rail lines in and around Philadelphia

SEPTA services at Wikipedia