Philadelphia  –  Route 15 Returns

Rail Transit Online, September 2005

Heritage streetcar service on Route 15-Girard Avenue will be restored on Sept. 4, more than a year after an $85-million track and traction power rehabilitation program was completed and 18 restored and modernized PCCs were delivered to SEPTA by Brookville Equipment Co.  The green-and-cream trolleys are now equipped with wheelchair lifts and air conditioning along with a completely refurbished interior.  They also have new trucks, bolsters, drive train and suspension, modern IGBT technology with regenerative braking and both disk and track brakes.  Many of the stops along the 8.2-mi. (13.2 km) route will be located at platform islands in the middle of the street, duplicating traditional streetcar practice.  The return of the streetcars was delayed by neighborhood politicians who had refused to allow elimination of parking on one side of 59th Street, which leads from Girard to Callowhill Depot, where the trolleys are stored.  Parking on both sides of the street provides insufficient clearance for the streetcars.  PCC service on Route 15 “temporarily” ended in 1992 because, according to SEPTA, the rolling stock and right-of-way was in poor condition.