SEPTA Replacing Trolleys with Buses on Four Upcoming Weekends

Starting Saturday, August 29th, 2026 our partners at SEPTA will be replacing all SEPTA T trolley service with buses on four upcoming weekends to allow crews to perform critical repairs to the 33rd Street electrical power substation. Select weekends were selected by SEPTA for this planned maintenance to account for when ridership is typically lower.

SEPTA reports that these closures are necessary because the 33rd Street substation, which powers T service in the Trolley Tunnel and along the Trolley diversion route, has sustained water intrusion in recent weeks. These repairs will aim to mitigate further intrusion and avoid potential unplanned outages.

On the following dates, all five T Lines (T1-T5) will be bused for their entire on-street portions:

• Saturday, August 29 to Monday, August 31
• Saturday, September 12 to Monday, September 14
• Saturday, September 19 to Monday, September 21
• Saturday, September 26 to Monday, September 28

The Trolley Tunnel will close at 2:00 A.M. on Saturday, with a gradual transition to busing through overnight hours. All five T Lines will be fully bused beginning at 5:00 A.M. Saturday through 5:00 A.M. Monday.

Special note for T4 and T5 riders: On Monday mornings during the maintenance work, some trips will continue to operate as a bus through afternoon hours. Riders can take the replacement buses to the 40th Street Portal to connect to other T lines and continue journeys east toward Center City.

During the four weekend work periods, both the Trolley Tunnel and diversion route will be out of service, and all Trolley-replacement buses will go along the Trolley’s usual route and connect to the L at 40th and Market Streets, allowing for a more direct transfer. This service plan differs from a typical diversion. Instead of trolleys running to 40th and Market, these routes will be replaced with buses above ground, serving the same stops as the trolley routes and standard diversion service. Because the outage affects the power on the diversion route as well as the tunnel, replacing trolleys with buses is necessary to allow safe repair work.