SEPTA says trolley wire replacements are done, estimates tunnel will reopen in ‘weeks’

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SEPTA said it is nearing the end of repairs to the overhead wires in its trolley tunnel between Center City and West Philadelphia, which has been closed since early November.

SEPTA said Friday it had completed the overhead wire replacements and estimates it could reopen the tunnel in mid-January, but first needs to finish testing the system, said spokesperson Andrew Busch.

“We do think we’re getting toward the end of this,” Busch said.

The tunnel closure, caused by an equipment issue, has left the roughly 60,000 riders SEPTA says travel through the trolley tunnel daily relying on a slower bus shuttle service or the Market-Frankford Line for travel between 13th Street in Center City and the 40th Street trolley portal in West Philadelphia.

In October, roughly 450 riders evacuated after their trolley cars were stranded inside the tunnel in two separate incidents.

SEPTA closed the tunnel in early November after discovering that new pieces used to connect trolley cars to the overhead wires that power them were degrading faster than expected. Lubricating carbon sliders meant to prevent the metal connectors from rubbing directly against the metal wires wore out, and the wires were damaged.

Since then, SEPTA has switched back to its old slider style, replaced segments of the 5 miles of wire that run through the tunnel and “filed down” other sections of rough, damaged wire by running test trolleys through the tunnels, Busch said.

SEPTA said the repairs required materials that took weeks to source, and that the testing has been time-consuming. The agency has repeatedly pushed back its estimated time of reopening.

“This is not a common type of repair that comes up,” Busch said. “It’s something that really didn’t have a precedent here. … We’ve been learning a lot as we’ve gone along.”

SEPTA plans to continue testing the wires before reopening the tunnel. The exact reopening date will depend on the results of this testing, and could be pushed back again, Busch said.

Once the tunnel reopens, SEPTA anticipates the system could require additional maintenance, which Busch said could lead to more weekend and overnight closures.

“What SEPTA is focused on now is making sure that we don’t return it back to service until it’s safe, and we know that service is going to be reliable for customers,” Busch said.

“We are eager to get the service back because it is such an efficient service for so many people,” he added.