T (SEPTA Metro)
A T4 (then known as Route 11) trolley at Drexel Station at 30th Street in 2007 | |||
| Overview | |||
| Locale | Philadelphia, Yeadon, and Darby, Pennsylvania | ||
| Termini | |||
| Stations | 8 underground stations 2 surface level stations | ||
| Website | septa | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Light rail | ||
| System | SEPTA Metro | ||
| Services | |||
| Operator(s) | SEPTA City Transit Division | ||
| Depot(s) | Callowhill, Elmwood | ||
| Rolling stock | Kawasaki Type K LRV cars | ||
| Daily ridership | 31,894 (FY 2023) | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1906 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 39.6 miles (63.7 km) | ||
| Character | Underground and surface | ||
| Track gauge | 5 ft 2+1⁄4 in (1,581 mm) Pennsylvania trolley gauge | ||
| Electrification | Overhead line, 600 V DC | ||
| |||
The T, formerly known as the Subway–Surface Trolleys, is a light rail system of the SEPTA Metro serving Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The system comprises five branches that operate on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and Delaware County, and also underneath Market Street in Philadelphia's Center City. The branches— the T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5—collectively operate on about 39.6 miles (63.7 km) of route.
Like Boston's Green Line and San Francisco's Muni Metro, the T is the descendant of a pre-World War II streetcar system. It also shares many similarities with the premetro and stadtbahn systems of continental Europe. Where Boston and San Francisco's systems use longer, articulated LRVs, Philadelphia uses rigid LRVs roughly 4 feet (1.2 m) longer than the PCC streetcars they replaced. The lines use Kawasaki Type K LRVs delivered in 1981–82. The cars are similar to those on the D 100 series, SEPTA's suburban trolley routes, which were delivered around the same time. However, the T cars are single-ended and use trolley poles, while the suburban lines use double ended cars and pantographs for power collection.
In 2023, SEPTA signed a contract with Alstom for 130 new low-floor LRVs to be delivered. These cars are scheduled to be delivered from 2027 through 2030.