The B, formerly known as the Broad Street Line (BSL), is a rapid transit line in the SEPTA Metro network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The line runs primarily north–south under Broad Street from the Fern Rock Transit Center in North Philadelphia through Center City Philadelphia to NRG Station at Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia. The Ridge spur follows Ridge Avenue between Fairmount Avenue and Market Street.
The line, which is entirely underground except for the northern terminus at Fern Rock, has four tracks in a local/express configuration from Fern Rock to Walnut–Locust and two tracks in the southern portion. With about 115,000 boardings on an average weekday in 2019, it is the second-busiest route in the SEPTA system.
Route and services The B runs in the Broad Street Subway, which runs north–south under Broad Street between NRG Station at Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia and Olney Transit Center at Olney Avenue in Logan. North of Olney Avenue, the line curves east to Fern Rock Transit Center, the only surface-level station on the line. Between Lombard–South station and just west of Fern Rock, the subway is quadrupled-tracked with inner express tracks and outer local tracks. Express stations have two island platforms serving all four tracks, while local stations have two side platforms serving only the outer tracks. South of Walnut-Locust and at Fern Rock, the line has two tracks and single island platforms. The two-track Broad–Ridge Spur splits from the Broad Street Subway at Fairmount station and runs southeast under Ridge Avenue and 8th Street to 8th Street station.
The B has three services: B1 service operates local between Fern Rock and NRG Station serving all 22 stops. It operates daily between approximately 5:00 am and midnight, with replacement bus service operating during overnight hours. B1 service, including bus service, operates every 15 minutes or better at all times except during the first and last hours of rail service on weekends. On weekdays, service operates every 8 minutes or better between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm. Scheduled running time is about 40 minutes. B2 service operates express between Fern Rock and Walnut–Locust station, serving only eight stops. It operates only on weekdays from approximately 6:00–10:00 am and 2:00–6:00 pm. B2 service operates every 15 minutes or better during these times, with service every seven minutes or better at peak hours. Scheduled running time is about 20 minutes. B2 Special service is operated to serve events at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex; it makes no stops between Walnut-Locust and NRG. B3 service operates between Olney and 8th Street serving eight stops. It operates express in the Broad Street Subway and provides all Ridge Spur service. B3 service operates Monday–Saturday from approximately 6:00 am to 9:00 pm. Saturday service and a small number of weekday trains terminate at Fern Rock. Headways vary from every seven minutes at weekday peak hours to every 20 minutes on Saturdays. Scheduled running time is about 16–19 minutes.
History Construction
Service on the northern half of the B, between City Hall and Olney Avenue, opened on September1, 1928. While the original subway tunnel had been finished to just north of the present-day Lombard-South station, service to the Walnut–Locust station did not begin until 1930, and the Lombard-South station entered service in 1932. Service from that point south to Snyder Avenue began on September18, 1938. Service to a new park-and-ride station built next to the Fern Rock shops began in 1956, and the line was extended further south to Pattison Avenue in 1973 to serve the recently completed Sports Complex.
Although the Broad Street subway was originally planned in the 1920s to be a 4-track facility for its entire length (Fern Rock portal to Snyder), the tunnel was built with provision for 4 tracks only from the portal to just north of Lombard-South. At the time of opening, the outer 2 tracks were built along this length, whereas the inner 2 express tracks were built only in two sections, from the Fern Rock portal/shops to just south of Olney, and from Girard to their terminus just north of Lombard South. To close the gaps, the two inner express tracks were laid from Erie to Girard in 1959, and again from Olney to Erie in 1991.
From Lombard-South station south to Snyder, the tunnel was constructed differently – only the eastern half of the line was built. The track currently used for southbound trains is actually the northbound express track. The extension in 1973 to Pattison station (now called NRG Station) continued this arrangement. Space exists under the western half of Broad Street for the construction of the western half of the tunnel, which would include the remaining 2 tracks and additional island platforms for southbound local and express trains. The resulting infrastructure would match the configuration built in the northern half of the line.
Provisions for flying junctions exist in the tunnels at three locations: north of Olney station, north of Erie station, and between Tasker-Morris and Snyder stations. These were to connect to planned but never built extensions to the north, northeast, northwest and southwest. Tracks were laid in the upper levels of the flying junctions north of Olney and Erie; these have been used over the years to store out-of-service trains and as layover points for express and Ridge Spur trains. The NRG Station contains a lower-level platform (very narrow compared to the very wide upper-level platform), built to accommodate additional trains for large crowds at sporting events. Seldom used for passenger service in recent years, these tracks are most often used to store rolling stock and work trains.
The line and its trains were leased to SEPTA in 1968 after it assumed operation of the city transit systems from the former Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC). The line ran 24 hours a day until 1991. Overnight service was reinstated on June20, 2014, for Friday and Saturday nights only on a trial basis. It was made permanent on October8, 2014.
The Ridge Avenue, West Philadelphia, and Delaware River Bridge subways
In 1916, William S. Twining, the director of the Department of City Transit, first proposed the Ridge Avenue subway as a replacement for the Center City distribution loop. This replacement would run directly to 8th & Market Streets via Ridge Avenue, skipping the longer alignment via Broad and Arch Streets. From 8th & Market, the subway would continue south, then turn west under Walnut Street, then back north under 16th Street, linking to the also-proposed subway under the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. This proposal also involved a branch line from Broad and Federal Streets in South Philadelphia (present-day location of Ellsworth-Federal station) to Darby, following Federal Street, Grays Ferry Avenue, and Woodland Avenue.
Twining also pursued a version of the Broad Street Subway that directly competed with the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company and would be built in the event that the City of Philadelphia and PRTC could not come to an operating agreement for the primary, unified system. Instead of funneling into the Parkway subway, the Ridge Avenue subway would continue westward through Center City to West Philadelphia, following the Northeast Corridor right-of-way to Woodland Avenue before turning southwest. The Federal Street branch of the South Broad Street subway would not be built under this plan. This altered version of the Ridge Avenue subway was officially authorized by the City in November 1923, with the routing tweaked in West Philadelphia to continue under Chestnut and 42nd Streets to reach Woodland Avenue instead of following the Northeast Corridor.
Plans for the West Philadelphia subway extension were further tweaked in 1930, with the Walnut Street segment being shifted one block south to Locust Street. Shuttle service on the Ridge Avenue subway between Girard station and Market Street then began on December21, 1932. As part of that project, a tunnel shell running south under 8th Street, then west under Locust Street to 18th Street was completed in 1933, but not yet outfitted for service. The Department of City Transit would revisit the still-authorized plan on numerous occasions over the following twenty years, most notably in the early 1940s and 1960s, but no construction ever materialized.
Due to the Delaware River Bridge being open and the Ridge Avenue subway being in progress, the City rushed to modify the 1923 plans for subway service between Center City and Camden. Rather than feeding into the authorized, but unfunded subway under Filbert Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, rail service over the bridge would link to the Ridge-8th Street branch just south of Chinatown station (then Race-Vine). The contract for the Ridge-Woodland subway was changed to accommodate this change, adding a flying junction at 8th and Race streets. The service, eventually christened the Bridge Line, began operation on June 7, 1936 as a shuttle between central Philadelphia and Camden.
Beginning in June 1949, Ridge Spur and Bridge Line trains were through-routed at 8th and Market. The partially-built Locust Street tunnel was opened on February15, 1953; Bridge Line trains were extended to a new terminus at 15th–16th Street station with two intermediate stops, while Ridge Spur trains reverted to running between 8th & Market and Girard. In January 1954, due to low ridership, off-peak service and Saturday again began operating between Girard and Camden, with a shuttle train operating between the Market Street and 15th–16th Street stations. Sunday service was suspended at that time due to minimal usage. Ridge Spur service was suspended from August23 to 27, 1968 as its tracks were switched to a new upper-level terminal platform at 8th Street station to allow conversion of the 8th–Locust Street subway into the Lindenwold High-Speed Line (PATCO Speedline).
The Ridge Spur was closed again from February 1981 to September6, 1983, during construction of the Center City Commuter Connection. Spring Garden station, by then exit-only, was closed on September10, 1989, due to safety concerns. Never drawing high ridership, the Spur has been proposed for closure on several occasions. The 2014 closure of the Gallery Mall, adjacent to 8th Street station, caused ridership on the Spur to drop by 25%.
21st century
During early 2020, the line operated "Lifeline Service" due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania. From April 2020, trains bypassed the , , , , , , , and stations. Overnight service was replaced by buses. All stations were reopened by July 2020. Overnight service was indefinitely replaced by buses in October 2020.
In September 2021, SEPTA proposed updating its wayfinding across the bus, subway, and trolley networks, rebranding their rail transit service as "SEPTA Metro". Under the proposal, services along the Broad Street Line would be rebranded as the "B" Lines, retaining their orange color. Each service utilizing the trunk would receive a numeric suffix. Local service would be known as the B1 Broad Street Local, the express and special service as the B2 Broad Street Express and B2 Express Sport Special, and the Broad–Ridge Spur as the B3 Broad–Ridge Express.
Following public feedback, SEPTA revised the Wayfinding Master Plan. Rather than being referred to as the B Lines, the Broad Street line become the "B". Local service became simply the "B1", express and special services the "B2", and the Broad–Ridge Spur the "B3", with signage letting riders know whether a train terminates at Walnut–Locust or NRG Station. Additionally, SEPTA stated they would pilot neighborhood maps in stations and prioritize the deployment of real-time information signage and on mobile apps. The Broad Street Line was officially renamed as the B on February 24, 2025.
Proposed extensions Roosevelt Boulevard