Trolleybuses in Philadelphia
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| Operation | |
|---|---|
| Locale |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Open | October 14, 1923 |
| Operator(s) | 1923–40: Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company; 1940–68: Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC); 1968–present: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). |
| Infrastructure | |
| Electrification | 600 V DC |
| Website | SEPTA |
The Philadelphia trolleybus system, or trackless trolley system as it is known by its operator, forms part of the public transportation network serving Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, United States. It opened on October 14, 1923, and is now the second-longest-lived trolleybus system in the world. One of only five such systems currently operating in the U.S., it presently comprises three lines, and is operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), with a fleet of 38 trolleybuses (or "trolley buses" or "trackless trolleys", other common American English terms). The three surviving routes serve North and Northeast Philadelphia and connect with SEPTA's Market–Frankford rapid transit line.
The first trackless trolley (trolley bus) service in Philadelphia was operated by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, which had been established in 1907, by the merger of several then-independent transit companies operating within the city and its environs. Through a reorganization, the company became the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) on January 1, 1940. The PTC was transferred from private to public ownership on September 30, 1968, when SEPTA (formed in 1964) took it over.
Of more than 300 trolley bus systems in operation worldwide (as of 2011), Philadelphia's is the second-oldest, exceeded in longevity only by that of Shanghai, China (in operation since 1914). This also makes it the oldest system in the Western Hemisphere.
The three Northeast Philadelphia trolley bus lines operating out of Frankford Depot, and the two South Philadelphia lines which operated out of Southern Depot, always existed in isolation from each other; there was never any trackless route or non-revenue 2-wire connection between those two networks. In addition, from 1941 to 1961, there were actually three disconnected trackless networks in the city, as PTC Route 61 operated out of Ridge Depot (closed on December 4, 1960) and did not connect with any other trackless line. (Pre-MBTA Boston, and the former Toronto system, also featured two or more disconnected trolleybus networks.)
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