Trolley riders are being directed to use the Market-Frankford Line to get to and from Center City, after SEPTA closed a tunnel Friday night for maintenance.
Routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36 utilize the tunnel, which carries an average of 700 vehicles a day. For more than a decade, it has been shuttered for a period during the summer to allow for 24/7 repairs and maintenance. The tunnel is set to reopen this year at 5 a.m. on Monday, July 24.
Riders of the routes, which serve West and Southwest Philadelphia, will be diverted to 40th Street Station, where they can board the MFL. For the reverse trip, they can get off at 40th Street and catch the trolley.
The authority published a map of the detours and indicated that trolleys will pick up and drop off riders at any street corner along the adjusted routes.
SEPTA said signage will be available to direct riders at 40th Street, and the authority plans to install tents for use as shelters while riders wait to transfer.
Due to track repairs, Route 13 will be converted to a bus during the two-week window, which SEPTA refers to as the “trolley tunnel blitz.”
The blitz does not affect trolley routes 101 and 102, which serve Delaware County and terminate at 69th Street Transportation Center.
While the tunnel is closed, crews plan to rebuild the eastbound platform at 22nd Street; replace portions of the track; perform maintenance of the signal system; and replace four miles of overhead wiring, among other tasks, according to the SEPTA.
“The blitz gives our crews the opportunity to tackle construction, maintenance, and safety improvement work in a concentrated period of time to reduce the number of outages throughout the year,” SEPTA General Manager Leslie Richard said in a statement.
The work is always scheduled for the summer, when ridership is typically lowest, SEPTA officials said.
