- OPERATION

SEPTA trains operate from 6:00 to 24:00h, every 2-3.5 min during rush hours, 7.5 min rest of the day, maximum 6-car-trains.

- FARES (2002)

SEPTA services:

Single fare - $2.00

1-Day-Pass - $5.50

Monthly Pass - $70.00

PATCO service:

$1.15 - $2.45 depending on distance travelled

- All fares subject to change -

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has about 5 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area and is situated half way between New York and Washington. It is separated from Camden, NJ, by the Delaware River.

MARKET-FRANKFORD LINE (Blue Line)

Already at the beginning of the 20th century surface traffic was so dense that the city decided to build an elevated line like those operating in Manhattan at that time. On 4 May 1907, the first section opened along Market Street, between 69th St (western terminus) and 15th Street in the city centre. An underground extension to 2nd Street was inaugurated only one year later. The elevated route between 2nd Street and Bridge-Pratt (Frankford) was taken into service between 1915 and 1922. Later, in 1955, the original section between 15th St and 40 St was also put underground. The total length of this line is 20.5 km (5.8 km underground through city centre) and it has 28 stations. Between City Hall and 31st the tunnel has 4 tracks, two of them are used by the green subway-surface trolleys (trams) coming from the western parts of the city. The Market-Frankford Line has 1588 mm gauge, 3rd rail (600V) and platform length is 106 m.

BROAD STREET LINE / BROAD-RIDGE SPUR (Orange Line)

This line is totally underground (except Fern Rock station) and runs straight along Broad Street. The first section between Olney - City Hall began operation in 1928, in 1930 it was extended to Lombard South. In 1932 the Ridge Avenue Spur (2.4 km) was added. The Broad Street Line reached Snyder in 1938, Fern Rock in 1956 and eventually Pattison in 1973. Between Olney and Walnut-Locust there are 4 tracks: 2 local and 2 express tracks. The total length of this line is 15.8 + 2.4 km, it uses 1435 mm gauge, 3rd rail (600V) power supply and platform length is 168 m.

PATCO (Lindenwold - Camden) LINE (Red Line)

This 23.3 km (4.6 km underground, 3.7 km elevated) line with 13 stations links the city of Camden (New Jersey) to Philadelphia. Interchange to the Market-Frankford Line is provided at 8th St/Market and to the Broad Street Line/Ridge Spur also at 8th St/Market and at Walnut/Locust (13th/12th). This line also has standard 1435 mm gauge, 3rd rail (685V); length of the central platforms is 125 m, with an average station distance of 1790 m. Trains operate all around the clock at an interval of 3-4 min peak hours and 10-30 min off-peak. There are plans to extend this line 8 km to Berlin and to build new branches from Broadway (Camden) station south to Classboro and Mount Laurel. PATCO runs underground from 16th & Locust to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, across the bridge and underground from there to Broadway, and on an embankment with elevated stations from Broadway to Lindenwold (except for Haddonfield station, which is in an open cut). It started running in 1936 between 8th St (Market St) in Philadelphia and Camden. It was extended to 16th St in Philadelphia in 1953 and south to Lindenwold in 1969 where it connects to Amtrak and NJT (New Jersey Transit) services.

The Market-Frankford Line and the Broad Street Line are operated by SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvanian Transportation Authority) and the Lindenwold-Camden Line is run by PATCO (Port Authority Transit Corporation).