Happy 60th Birthday SEPTA! Part 3
February 14, 2024
Our month-long celebration of SEPTA's 60th birthday continues! Today we’re taking a look at the Broad Street Line – or the BSL! The BSL spans 10 miles and has 22 stations along its route – running from Fern Rock Transportation Center in North Philly all the way south to NRG Station – which is just minutes away from Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, and Wells Fargo Center. Along the way it stops at the Convention Center, City Hall in Center City, Temple University, and Tasker-Morris Station – which is a short walk away from Passyunk Avenue.
The Broad Street Line began service September 1, 1928, running between City Hall and Olney Avenue. That’s over 95 years of service!
Service to the Walnut-Locust Station did not begin until 1930. In 1932 – Lombard-South Station entered service. Service from that point south to Snyder began on September 18, 1938. Service did not extend to Pattison Avenue – now known as NRG Station – until 1973.
In 1975 – the Broad Street Line played host to the State-of-the-Art Car [pictured above]. The State-of-the-Art Car (SOAC) was a heavy rail mass transit demonstrator vehicle produced for the United States Department of Transportation's Urban Mass Transportation Administration in the 1970s. It was intended to demonstrate the latest technologies to operating agencies and the riding public – and serve to promote existing and proposed transit lines. It operated in intermittent revenue service on six rapid transit systems in five United States cities – visiting Philadelphia in 1975.
