April 12, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, PA — SEPTA will operate shuttle buses in place of trains on the western portion of the Market-Frankford Line for the next three weekends.

The shuttle buses will operate from Friday night at 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Monday morning between 69th Street Terminal and 40th & Market Streets due to the Market Street Elevated (MSE) Reconstruction project. They are scheduled to run on the weekends April 13-16, April 20-23 and April 27-30.

For riders traveling into Center City, the shuttle buses will leave 69th Street Terminal (69th & Market Streets) and travel on Chestnut Street from 63rd to 45th Streets, back to Market Street, and then to 40th Street Station where riders will transfer to the El.

From Center City, regular El service will operate to 46th Street Station. Riders traveling beyond 46th Street will transfer to shuttle buses at 40th Street Station. Shuttle buses will leave 40th & Market Streets and continue on 40th Street to Walnut Street, Walnut Street to 63rd Street, and back on Market Street to 69th Street Terminal.

Shuttle buses will make stops on Chestnut and Walnut Streets at 46th, 52nd, 56th, 60th, 63rd Streets and Millbourne Avenue. Market-Frankford Line trains will continue to operate about every 10 to 15 minutes between 46th Street Station and Frankford Transportation Center during the weekend.

During the construction, SEPTA bus Route 52 will be detoured to 46th Street Station while bus Route 46 riders will transfer to the El shuttle bus at 58th/59th Street to travel eastbound or westbound.

MSE is one of the largest construction projects in the history of SEPTA. The project will reconstruct five stations in West Philadelphia (46th Street, 52nd Street, 56th Street, 60th Street, and 63rd Street) and Millbourne Station in eastern Delaware County. The construction project will also replace 11,000 feet of the guideway between Millbourne Station and 46th Street with a new single column bent structure that will open up Market Street and significantly improve the flow of traffic.

SEPTA’s Community Information Center is located at 5344 Chestnut Street and provides passengers, residents, and businesses with information regarding the project. The Center is open six days a week and is also accessible by telephone at 215-748-5700. Information on all SEPTA service is available online or by telephone at 215-580-7800.