37th Street station (SEPTA) explained

37th Street
Symbol:septa
Symbol Location:septa
Style:SEPTA
Style2:SEPTA Trolley
Address:37th and Spruce Streets
Borough:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:39.951°N -75.1974°W
Platform:2 side platforms
Tracks:2
Owned:Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
Connections: SEPTA City Bus:
Structure:Underground
Accessible:No
Opened:October 15, 1955
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Other Services2 Header:Future services (2024)
Other Services2 Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail-light
Zoom:15

37th Street station, also known as 37th Street/Spruce Street/Woodland Avenue station, is a SEPTA subway–surface lines trolley station in Philadelphia. It is westernmost station of the subway–surface tunnel and carries Routes 11, 13, 34, and 36. The station is located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania at the intersection of 37th and Spruce streets.

Trolleys serving this station go eastbound to Center City Philadelphia and westbound to the neighborhoods of Eastwick and Angora, as well as the Delaware County suburbs of Yeadon and Darby.

History

The station was opened in November 1955 by the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) as part of a larger project to move portions of the elevated Market Street Line and surface trolleys underground.[1] The original project to bury the elevated tracks between 23rd to 46th streets was announced by the PTC's predecessor, the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT), in the 1920s, but was delayed due to the Great Depression and World War II.[2] The PTC's revised project also included a new tunnel for trolleys underneath the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, continuing from the original western portal at 23rd and Market streets to new portals at 36th and Ludlow streets and 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue.

The station's platforms are offset because during construction, the above intersection was a five-way junction between Spruce Street, Woodland Avenue, and South 37th Street. The latter two streets were later converted to pedestrian walkways.

In October 2006, Penn's class of 1956 donated a new covered headhouse for the eastbound platform entrance. The entrance is a replica of the Peter Witt trolley manufactured by J. G. Brill Company from 1923 to 1926 for Philadelphia's trolley system.[3] The replica was built by the Gomaco Trolley Company.[4]

Station layout

The station has two low-level offset side platforms, each capable of platforming two trolleys at a time. Fares are collected on board the trolley cars.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Puckett, John L. and Mark Frazier Lloyd., accessed May 31, 2020.
  2. Web site: Putting the Market Street Elevated Underground . West Philadelphia Collaborative History . John L. Puckett . . June 2, 2020.
  3. Web site: Class of 1956 Trolley / 37th & Spruce @ Woodland Avenue. . https://web.archive.org/web/20080402131858/http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/artHistory/56trolley.php3 . 2008-04-02 . July 30, 2012.
  4. Web site: 'Trolley' Subway Entrance – October 2006 . Gomaco Trolley Company . November 26, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120224065238/http://www.gomacotrolley.com/Resources/philadelphia_oct2006.html . February 24, 2012 .