Gonna be in Philadelphia this weekend and wanted to take a SEPTA joyride. I haven't done this in several years and wonder how "safe" it is to ride the Market-Frankford line to 69th St in the early evening and what are the best trolley lines to ride nowadays. Not too many years ago I was fairly comfortable doing this but as I age (mid 60s), I'm becoming more cautious about where and when I go. Also thinking of riding Regional Rail to Doylestown. Always wanted to see that area. I'm staying in Center City so accessing any of these is easy. Thank you.
SEPTA Joyriding
- Thread starter PaTrainFan
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Septa9739
Lead Service Attendant
Personally, the Market Street El side of the MFL is definitely the safer side. I’d say green light Girard-40th, Yellow Light 40th-69th, I really try to avoid the Kensington Avenue El. That said, the whole thing gets sketchy after about 8:30, so I don’t know how early your early evening is, but I’d be done by then. Most of the crime happens between 9PM and the wee smalls above Kensington Avenue. A little situational awareness and common sense with the rules above will (probably) keep you safe. As for trolleys, PCC testing is really ramping up along the 15, so you might be able to catch one. Most of that route is safe. Otherwise I like the 10. You could take the El to 69th, 65 to Malvern Loop and the 10 back to Center City, or the 10 to the 15 to the El at Girard and back to CC. The Lansdale/Doylestown is a fine line, but the Media/Wawa is really nice especially Wawa Station and the Crum Creek Viaduct and the Manayunk/Norristown along the Schuylkill is the same. I don’t know if you’ve ridden either. An often overlooked trip is the PATCO over the Ben Franklin and out to Lindenwold. It’s really nice. The BSL going to see the Phils is a whole cultural experience if you want to see that.
I recommend the Norristown High Speed Line. It's an odd duck mashup of an interurban, commuter line, and bus on rails. It also has some pretty nice views of the hills west of Philly.
You could ride the El to 69th St. then ride the route 101 trolley to Media ( maybe have dinner at one of the restaurants along State St. then it's a short walk to the Media station of the regional rail where you catch a train back to Center City. The Media trolley (former Red Arrow) is an interesting ride especially through Smedley Park where it feels like an old time rural interurban.
I took just that trip a couple of years ago:
https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/trolley-time-on-the-septa-lines.80472/
I also recommend the Norristown High Speed Line. An easy connection to/from the Norristown Line of the Regional Rail. I've never had any problems riding the El to/from 69th Street during daylight hours.
... and to the Market St. subway on south end.
