SEPTA Is Renaming the Market-Frankford Line, Subway, and Trolleys

Some details of the new SEPTA renaming project, including the Broad Street Line, trolleys and Market-Frankford Line (SEPTA)

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SEPTA Is Renaming the Market-Frankford Line, Subway, and Trolleys

Every time I visit SEPTA’s website—which is probably more often than the average person, admittedly—SEPTA asks me if I want to check out the beta version of their new website. I always politely decline, opting for the “classic” site. But earlier this week, something told me to look at the beta site. And when I did, lo and behold, one of the first things that jumped out at me was this: SEPTA is renaming the Market-Frankford Line the “L”. No, not the “El,” as it is colloquially know. The L.

“Most people call it the ‘el’ already; now the signs will match,” reads the announcement. “That will make giving directions a whole lot easier — even if we forgot the ‘e’.”

And it isn’t just the El — sorry, the L — getting this new single-letter treatment.

The Broad Street Subway, which you’ve probably been calling the Broad Street Line all these years, will become the B, with a B1 designation for a local, B2 for an express, and B3 for that mysterious spur.

The subway-surface trolleys shall now be known as the T. And SEPTA is losing the trolley route numbers you’ve known for so long. Say goodbye to the Route 10, which will become the T1. Route 34? T2. Route 13? T3. Route 11? T4. And the Route 36 trolley? If you’re following the pattern here, you’ve probably deduced it’s now the T5.

Got all that? There’s more.

The SEPTA Route 15 trolley — that’s the trolley that runs down Girard Avenue and is not a subway-surface trolley because it never goes underground — will become the G. G—Girard. Straightforward enough.

Then come the suburban trolley lines, the 101 and the 102, aka the Media-Sharon Hill Line, aka the trolleys you would have never heard of if you don’t live in Delco. They get the D designation. Delco proud!

And that leaves us with the Norristown High Speed Line, typically abbreviated NHSL. Is the Norristown High Speed Line now the N? Nope. The new name is the M. I’m guessing for Montco.

There are also color changes. The blue that’s been signifying the Market-Frankford Line for so long will become a brighter blue. Also getting brighter is the green used for the subway-surface trolleys. The green used for the Route 15 trolley will now be yellow. The green for the Media-Sharon Hill line becomes what I would call fuchsia. SEPTA has been using purple for the Norristown High Speed Line, but that purple will now become a “clearer purple,” in the words of SEPTA.

So why is this all happening?

“SEPTA is constantly at work making our system better, more efficient, and easier to navigate for all who ride,” reads a SEPTA announcement. “Replacing long, inconsistent names with simple letters and colors eliminates language barriers, streamlines the entire system, and creates consistency that supports easy navigation… We’ve carefully designed the new wayfinding to benefit all riders, no matter your familiarity with SEPTA, native language, or level of literacy.”

We’ve been hearing rumblings about changes like this for a while now, all part of SEPTA’s attempt to unify all of the above SEPTA lines as the SEPTA Metro. And now it looks like SEPTA is doing it for real. Expect new signage at your local SEPTA stop in the coming weeks and months.

Here’s what the new SEPTA map looks like:

The New SEPTA Map with Renamed Transit Lines by philly victor on Scribd

A Face Mask Ban?

City Council meets today and part of their agenda is further consideration on a face mask ban. The current version of the proposed bill would prohibit anything concealing a person’s face in public places, naturally with exemptions for religious considerations. There’s already a mask ban on SEPTA, though I see people wearing masks on SEPTA all the time.

Local Talent

Congrats are in order for Eagles player Jason Kelce and his brother Travis (you may know him as the Kansas City Chiefs player who is romantically entwined with Taylor Swift). They just landed their first Billboard Number One placement thanks to their “Fairytale of Philadelphia” duet from the new Eagles players Christmas album. Actually, make that two placements. The single tops the Holiday Digital Song Sales chart this week, which isn’t so hard to believe. But it’s also number one on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart. (RIP to Shane MacGowan from the Pogues, who did the original version of “Fairytale”. He just passed.)

Taylor Swift with Donna Kelce (Getty Images)

Speaking of Taylor Swift and chart success, Spotify just revealed that the Berks County native is the most streamed artist of 2023. She stole the title from Bad Bunny, who held it for three years.

Reader Mail

Speaking of Taylor Swift and the Family Kelce, earlier this week, I told you that somebody just paid $100,000 for a replica of the Eagles jacket Princess Di famously wore, signed by Kylie Kelce, wife of Jason. “Now if only they could have convinced alleged Eagles fan Taylor Swift to sign it,” I jested.

Well, a reader named Paula wasn’t laughing.

“Why would you write this?” she wrote me, incensed. “Kylie Kelce should be proud of raising that much money. No one needs to write that about Taylor Swift. Shame on you.”

I dunno. I feel like the whole “shame on you” bar has gotten really, really low.

By the Numbers

95 percent: Reduction in speeding on the Roosevelt Boulevard thanks to speed cameras, according to the city, which needs legislative approval from Harrisburg to continue the program. The city also says the cameras have saved about three dozen lives. The city’s data is from a University of Pennsylvania study.

3: Additional Rite Aid locations in the Philadelphia area that the company is shutting down amid bankruptcy proceedings.

-3: The spread line favoring the 49ers in this Sunday’s home matchup against the 49ers. Yes, the Eagles are underdogs. For the second time in three weeks. The Eagles hadn’t been underdogs at a home game since January 2022, when the Cowboys were favored. Who won? The Cowboys.

And from the Feel-Better-Please Sports Desk …

The Sixers were in NOLA last night to face Zion Williamson and the Pelicans, and they were without Joel Embiid, who was sick. The starting five: Marcus Morris Sr., Nic Batum, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris and De’Anthony Melton. And they did not start well, as the stone-cold Sixers were down 14-3 four and a half minutes in. Argh, and 39-24 at the close of the first? It was butt-ugly out there. At the half, we were down 20, 68-48. Would a comeback be in the works?

Nah. Lots of players we don’t often see got playing time, there were a shit-ton of disgruntled bettors (Embiid was a last-minute scratch), and the result was a big steaming pile of doo-doo. No highlights to show. There were some questionable calls by the refs.

https://twitter.com/ALSchoenheisser/status/1730060209823846877

And the Sixers had a flurry toward the close of the fourth, but it wasn’t enough. Another loss, 124-114. Zion wound up with 33, as did Tyrese. Get well soon, Joel.

What About in College Hoops?

St. Joe’s came out shooting against what had been a hot 18th-ranked Villanova team last night at the Pavilion and led 43-35 at halftime. The Hawks never let up, and they clipped the Wildcats handily in the end there in ‘Nova’s own house, 78-65. Temple and La Salle tipped off at about the same time and stayed neck-and-neck the whole game, finally heading into overtime not once, but twice, thanks to this clutch Steve Settle shot:

Settle sends it to DOUBLE OVERTIME!!#Team128 pic.twitter.com/U4Fo3wDTb0

— Temple Men's Basketball (@TUMBBHoops) November 30, 2023

And then, because too much is never enough, a third overtime! In the end, it was the Owls who triumphed, 106-99. Great game. Great college basketball. The Big 5 Classic wraps up this Saturday with a triple-header at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Drexel Dragons, meanwhile, made short work of the Lafayette Leopards, 69-48.

And tonight? Tonight?

The Flyers play tonight.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.