|
|
|
|
|
Market-frankford LineThe Market-Frankford Line (MFL) (also called the Market-Frankford Subway-Elevated Line (MFSE), El or Blue Line) is a transit line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, run by SEPTA. It begins at 69th Street Terminal just west of the city line in Upper Darby and runs on a private right-of-way to the city line. From there it is elevated over Market Street until 46th Street, where it curves off to the north and heads underground, with a portal at 44th Street. At 42nd Street, the tunnel returns to the alignment of Market Street. At 32nd Street, the tunnel carrying the Subway-Surface lines joins, with its tracks adjacent to and on each side of the MFL tracks. Several stops have access to only the Subway-Surface lines, and then they end at 13th Street, just after crossing the Broad Street Line at 15th Street. The Market Street tunnel continues east to Front Street, and then curves north, where it rises in the median of I-95. I-95 and the line become elevated, and the line heads under the southbound lanes and above Front Street on an elevated structure. The line forks northeast onto Kensington Avenue, which merges with Frankford Avenue. Just north of Bridge Street, a quick curve to the northwest and then to the northeast bring the line to the surface and its terminus at the Frankford Transportation Center. During rush hours (trains beginning from approximately 7 AM to 8:30 AM and 3:45 PM to 5:15 PM), SEPTA uses skip-stop operation. Trains marked "A" stop only at the stations marked "A", and "B" trains stop only at "B" stations. Trains run on the line approximately from 5 AM to 1 AM, and buses provide night service from midnight to 6 AM. History A bridge to carry the line across the Schuylkill River, just north of Market Street, was built from July 1903 to August 1905. Construction on the Market Street Elevated began on October 17, 1904, and the line opened on March 4, 1907 from 69th to a loop around City Hall at 15th. The line was elevated west of the river and underground east of the river. The tunnel was also used by streetcar lines, now SEPTA's Subway-Surface lines, that entered the line just west of the river, and turned around at the City Hall loop. Extensions took the line east to 2nd on August 3, 1908, and via several curves to the Delaware River between Market Street and Chestnut Street on September 7, 1908. The Delaware Avenue Elevated (also called the Ferry Line, because of the multiple ferries across the river) opened on October 4, 1908 as a further extension south slong the river to South Street. The only two stations on this extension were Market-Chestnut and South Street. The Frankford Elevated opened on November 5, 1922http://www.septa.org/inside/history/mfse.html, with trains from 69th alternating between Frankford and the Ferry Line. In 1937, operations were changed to use the Ferry Line only during the day, and not at all on Sunday. The line was temporarily closed and replaced with a shuttle bus from 2nd on May 3, 1939, with closure later planned for 1943. But World War II increased traffic, and the line was reopened, only to close on October 31, 1953. By 1944, the tunnel from the City Hall loop to the river was four-tracked, and the Subway-Surface Lines were moved to the outside tracks. New stations were added for only the outside tracks at 24th and 19th. A new section of tunnel from 22nd (where the line started rising towards the Schuylkill River) to 32nd was built in the 1940s but funding ran out. Construction restarted in 1947, and the current configuration opened on November 6, 1955. The El was removed by June 20, 1956. As part of this project, a new tunnel was built straight through the City Hall loop, which continued to be used by the Subway-Surface Lines. A new portal for those lines was built just south of Market Street, west of 34th, along with new stations at 33rd, 30th and 22nd, with all but the 30th Street station only serving the Subway-Surface Lines, and the 24th Street station was abandoned. New stations on the MFL were built at 40th, 34th, 30th, 15th and 13th. Skip-stop operation was begun on January 30, 1956. When I-95 was built in the late 1960s, part of the Frankford El was rerouted to its median, and the Fairmount station was replaced with Spring Garden. Fairly recently, a new tunnel was built for the Subway-Surface lines, splitting from the old one (still used by Route 10) near 34th Street and running west to 36th Street, south under 36th, and southwest under Woodland Ave to a new portal at 40th Street. Station list Stations marked "original station" were present at the opening of the line, but may have been rebuilt since then. | tation | Type | Notes | | a href="/encyclopedia/69th-Street-Terminal" title="69th Street Terminal">69th Street Terminal | AB | transfer to SEPTA trolley routes 100 (Norristown High Speed Line), 101 and 102
original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/Millbourne-(MFL-station)" title="Millbourne (MFL station)">Millbourne | B | original station
originally 66th Street | | a href="/encyclopedia/63rd-Street-(MFL-station)" title="63rd Street (MFL station)">63rd Street | A | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/60th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="60th Street (MFL station)">60th Street | AB | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/56th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="56th Street (MFL station)">56th Street | AB | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/52nd-Street-(MFL-station)" title="52nd Street (MFL station)">52nd Street | AB | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/46th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="46th Street (MFL station)">46th Street | B | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/40th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="40th Street (MFL station)">40th Street | AB | transfer to nighttime routes of Subway-Surface lines | | |||original station at 36th Street | | a href="/encyclopedia/34th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="34th Street (MFL station)">34th Street | AB | | |||original station at 32nd Street | | a href="/encyclopedia/30th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="30th Street (MFL station)">30th Street | AB | free transfer to Subway-Surface Lines
transfer to Amtrak and SEPTA Regional Rail at 30th Street Station | | |||Subway-Surface Lines-only stations at 22nd Street and 19th Street | | a href="/encyclopedia/15th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="15th Street (MFL station)">15th Street | AB | free transfer to Subway-Surface Lines and Broad Street Line
transfer to SEPTA Regional Rail at Suburban Station
original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/13th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="13th Street (MFL station)">13th Street | AB | free transfer to Subway-Surface Lines
original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/11th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="11th Street (MFL station)">11th Street | AB | transfer to SEPTA Regional Rail at Market East
original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/8th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="8th Street (MFL station)">8th Street | AB | transfer to Broad-Ridge Spur and PATCO Speedline
original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/5th-Street-(MFL-station)" title="5th Street (MFL station)">5th Street | AB | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/2nd-Street-(MFL-station)" title="2nd Street (MFL station)">2nd Street | AB | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/Spring-Garden-(MFL-station)" title="Spring Garden (MFL station)">Spring Garden | AB | original station at Fairmount | | a href="/encyclopedia/Girard-(MFL-station)" title="Girard (MFL station)">Girard | AB | transfer to SEPTA Route 15
original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/Berks-(MFL-station)" title="Berks (MFL station)">Berks | A | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/York-Dauphin-(MFL-station)" title="York-Dauphin (MFL station)">York-Dauphin | B | original station (split between York northbound and Dauphin southbound) | | a href="/encyclopedia/Huntingdon-(MFL-station)" title="Huntingdon (MFL station)">Huntingdon | A | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/Somerset-(MFL-station)" title="Somerset (MFL station)">Somerset | B | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/Allegheny-(MFL-station)" title="Allegheny (MFL station)">Allegheny | AB | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/Tioga-(MFL-station)" title="Tioga (MFL station)">Tioga | A | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/Erie-Torresdale-(MFL-station)" title="Erie-Torresdale (MFL station)">Erie-Torresdale | AB | original station (as simply Torresdale) | | a href="/encyclopedia/Church-(MFL-station)" title="Church (MFL station)">Church | B | original station | | a href="/encyclopedia/Margaret-Orthodox-(MFL-station)" title="Margaret-Orthodox (MFL station)">Margaret-Orthodox | AB | original station (as Orthodox-Margaret) | | a href="/encyclopedia/Frankford-Transportation-Center" title="Frankford Transportation Center">Frankford Transportation Center | AB | original station (as Bridge Street) | External links
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|