SEPTA Route 13

SEPTA Route 13, also known as the Chester Avenue Line, is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects 13th Street Station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Yeadon and Darby, Pennsylvania. It is one of five lines that are part of the Subway-Surface Trolley system. From 2024 onwards, Route 13 will be referred as the T3 Chester Avenue Line

Route 13 Subway–surface trolley line
SEPTA Route 13 makes one of its few runs to the Darby Transportation Center.
Overview
Termini	Yeadon or Darby, Pennsylvania Center City, Philadelphia
Stations	8 underground stations, 1 surface level station, and 39 street-level stops
Service
System	Subway-Surface Trolley Lines
Depot(s)	Elmwood Carhouse
Daily ridership	13,364 (2019 average weekday)
Technical
Line length	11.4 mi (18.3 km)
Track gauge	5 ft 2+1⁄4 in (1,581 mm) Pennsylvania trolley gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 600 V DC
Route map SEPTA Main Line to Glenside MFL to Frankford T.C. 13th Street MFL BSL City Hall 15th Street MFL Suburban 19th Street 22nd Street Schuylkill River Northeast Corridor 30th Street Station 30th Street MFL Harrisburg Subdivision NEC/Keystone Corridor 32nd Street Tunnel MFL to 69th Street T.C. 33rd Street  10  to 63rd–Malvern 36th Street 37th Street 40th Street Portal  34  Baltimore Avenue Chester & Woodland  11   36  Woodland Avenue Chester & 41st Chester & 42nd Diversion tracks to 40th and Market Chester & 43rd Chester & 45th Chester & 46th Chester & 47th Chester & 48th Chester & 49th Non-Revenue Track WAW 49th Street Chester & 51st Chester & 52nd Chester & 53rd Chester & 54th Chester & 55th Chester & 56th Chester & 57th Chester & 58th Non-Revenue Track to Woodland Ave. Chester & 59th Chester & 60th Kingsessing & 60th Kingsessing & 61st Kingsessing & 62nd Mount Moriah Kingsessing & 65th 65th & Chester 65th & Belmar 65th & Windsor 65th & Cobbs Creek Cobbs Creek 65th & Chester Chester & Church Chester & Yeadon Chester & Duncan Chester & Stetser Yeadon Loop Limited service Chester & Alfred Chester & Cedar 10th │ 9th Cedar Mulberry Wycombe Summit MBFS Summit Ridge Main Main MBFS Darby T.C. |  11

Route description

Starting from its eastern end at the 13th Street, Route 13 runs in a tunnel under Market Street. It makes stops at underground stations at 15th Street, 19th Street, 22nd Street, 30th Street, and 33rd Street. From 15th to 30th Streets, it runs on the outer tracks in the same tunnel as SEPTA's Market–Frankford Line.

Passengers may transfer free of charge to the Market–Frankford Line at 13th, 15th, and 30th Streets and to the Broad Street Line at 15th Street. Connections to the SEPTA Regional Rail are also available. Underground passageways connect the 13th and 15th Street Stations to Jefferson Station and Suburban Station.

Route 13 surfaces at the 40th Street Portal near 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue (US 13), and then runs southwest along Woodland Avenue shortly before moving to Chester Avenue. An alternate trolley line existing along 42nd Street itself joins the Route 13 line for several blocks. This line is used when tunnels are closed for maintenance or other unforeseen shutdowns. The line runs on a bridge over the Media/Wawa Line at 49th Street, however, it does not serve as an official stop for the trolley. The alternate trolley line for tunnel closings turns along 49th Street itself before Route 13 crosses the 49th Street Station railroad bridge, although some Route 11 trolleys use these tracks.

Mt. Moriah Cemetery cuts off Chester Avenue, so the line makes a left turn at 60th Street then returns to the southwest at Kingsessing Avenue. At the southwest corner of the cemetery, the Route 13 line stops at the Mt. Moriah Loop, and some use the loop for trolleys that do not go to either Yeadon or Darby. For those that do, the trolleys continue west on Kingsessing Avenue until it reaches 65th Street, where it turns north, and later northwest as it approaches a bridge over the Cobbs Creek Parkway, and immediately turns on another section of Chester Avenue, on its way to the Yeadon Loop. Fernwood-Yeadon (SEPTA station) is further north of this terminus and has no connection. However the SEPTA Suburban Bus Routes 68 and 108, which do lead to Fernwood-Yeadon cross the line east of Yeadon Loop at the Church Lane intersection.

West of Yeadon Loop, some trolleys continue along the Chester Avenue line until it reaches Cedar Avenue, where westbound and eastbound trolley lines split along 10th Street and 9th Street respectively. The tracks on 10th Street run straight, while those on 9th Street briefly run along Summit Street. As the westbound tracks turn left at the terminus of the 10th and Main Streets intersection, it runs south to the next block at Darby Transportation Center, which is primarily served by the SEPTA Route 11 line, as well as numerous buses.

History

Trolley service on Route 13 originally operated from Yeadon to Front & Chestnut Streets via Chestnut and Walnut Streets. Service was rerouted into the Subway-Surface Tunnel on September 9, 1956.

Service to was extended to Darby following the discontinuation of the Route 62 Darby–Yeadon shuttle trolley on January 24, 1971.

In 2021, SEPTA proposed rebranding their rail transit service as "SEPTA Metro", in order to make the system easier to navigate. Under this proposal, the subway–surface lines will be rebranded as the "T" lines with a green color and numeric suffixes for each service, and Route 13 would be renamed "T3 Chester Avenue." SEPTA described that "most comments were positive" in the public comment period for this rebranding project.

Stations and stops

All are in the City of Philadelphia or the boroughs of Yeadon or Darby.

Neighborhood / location	Images	Station or stop	Connections	Notes
Market East		13th Street	MFL Market–Frankford Line 10, 11, 13, 34, 36 27, 31, 32	Closed between 12:30–5:00am
Penn Center		15th Street	all lines (at Suburban) MFL Market–Frankford Line, BSL Broad Street Line (at City Hall) 10, 11, 13, 34, 36 4, 16, 17, 27, 31, 32, 33, 38, 44, 48 124, 125	Late night terminus
		19th Street	10, 11, 13, 34, 36 17, 31, 38, 44, 48, 62, 78 124
Center City West		22nd Street	10, 11, 13, 34, 36 7, 31, 44, 62 124, 125	Replaced 24th Street station
University City		30th Street	Amtrak (at 30th Street) NJ Transit: ACL Atlantic City Line (at 30th Street) all lines (at 30th Street) MFL Market–Frankford Line 10, 11, 13, 34, 36 31, 49, LUCY	No direct passage to 30th Street Station
		33rd Street	10, 11, 13, 34, 36 30, 31, 49, LUCY	Serves Drexel University
		36th Street	11, 34, 36 21	Serves University of Pennsylvania
		37th Street	11, 34, 36 40, 42, LUCY	Serves University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Spruce Hill		40th Street Portal	11, 34, 36 30, 40, 42, LUCY	End of Route 34 concurrency
		Chester & Woodland		Discontinued; end of 11 & 36 concurrency
		41st & Chester (EB)		Discontinued
		42nd & Chester	30
		43rd & Chester
		45th & Chester
		46th & Chester
Squirrel Hill		47th & Chester
		48th & Chester
		49th & Chester	Media/Wawa Line (at 49th Street) 64
Kingsessing		51st & Chester
		52nd & Chester
		53rd & Chester
		54th & Chester	52
		55th & Chester
		56th & Chester
		57th & Chester
		58th & Chester	G
Mount Moriah		59th & Chester
		Chester & 60th
		60th & Kingsessing
		61st & Kingsessing
		62nd & Kingsessing
		Mount Moriah
Elmwood		65th & Kingsessing
		Chester & 65th
		Belmar & 65th
		Windsor & 65th
		Cobbs Creek & 65th
Philadelphia–Yeadon line
Yeadon		65th & Chester
		Church & Chester	68 108
		Yeadon & Chester
		Duncan & Chester
		Stetser & Chester
		Yeadon Loop
		Alfred & Chester		Limited service
		Cedar & Chester		Limited service
Yeadon–Darby line
Darby		Cedar & 9th (EB) Mulberry & 10th (WB)		Limited service
		Summit & 9th (EB) Wycombe & 10th (WB)		Limited service
		Summit & 10th (WB) Summit & 9th (EB)		Limited service
		Ridge & 10th (WB) Ridge & 9th (EB)		Limited service
		Main & 10th (WB)		Limited service
		Darby T.C.	11 113, 114, 115	Limited service

External links

Template:Attached KML/SEPTA Route 13

KML is from Wikidata

• Official SEPTA Route 13 schedule and map