SEPTA Route 53

SEPTA Route 53
A SEPTA Route 53 trolley turns from Pulaski Avenue to Erie Avenue in April 1985
Overview
Began service	Pre-1890
Route
Locale	Philadelphia
Communities served	Mount Airy, Germantown, Hunting Park
Start	Carpenter Woods Park
Via	Wayne Avenue, Pulaski Avenue, Erie Avenue, 10th Street, Old York Road
End	Hunting Park (BSL Station)

SEPTA Route 53 is a former street car line and current bus route, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The line runs between the West Mount Airy and Hunting Park neighborhoods primarily along Wayne Avenue.

SEPTA Route 53 starts at Carpenter's Woods in West Mount Airy. It follows Wayne Avenue east through a residential area, crossing over the Chestnut Hill West Line, shortly before passing Tulpehocken (SEPTA station). The route continues to run fairly closely to the rail line until Chelten Avenue, where the rail line dips to the south.

The scenery becomes less residential as the route approaches Wayne Junction. After crossing under the railroad bridge by that station, the line turns south on Clarissa Street, crosses under the Roosevelt Expressway, and runs along the east side of a massive railroad yard before crossing West Hunting Park Avenue. At that point, the route continues on 18th Street, Pulaski Avenue, and 17th Street before turning left onto Erie Avenue, which carries SEPTA Route 56, another former street car converted into a bus route. (West-to-northbound buses use Pulaski Road all the way between Erie Avenue and 18th Street, as did the trolleys.) Both routes connect to Erie Station on the Broad Street Subway Line, as well as Germantown Avenue, which carries SEPTA Route 23. While SEPTA Route 56 continues northeast to the Torresdale-Cottman Loop in Tacony, Route 53 takes a left turn on 10th Street, and heads north towards the former Luzerne Depot, which became an all bus garage, and is now a cardboard recycling plant.