4 injured in crash that derailed a SEPTA trolley

A SEPTA trolley and a car collided early Sunday morning in the city’s Kingsessing neighborhood, injuring four people and causing the trolley to derail in yet another mishap involving the transit system.

The crash occurred around 6:30 a.m. at the intersection of South 52nd Street and Chester Avenue and resulted in “minor injuries” to the trolley operator and three passengers, said Andrew Busch, a SEPTA spokesperson.

The car ran a red light and crashed into the trolley, Busch said.

“There was nothing the trolley operator could do to avoid the collision,” Busch said.

» READ MORE: SEPTA says 5th crash in a week is ‘alarming and concerning,’ plans to investigate staffing issues

SEPTA’s System Safety Division and Philadelphia police are conducting an investigation into the incident. Police provided no information.

The Route 13 trolley was rerailed later in the morning and was able to be driven back to the shop for any needed repair, Busch said. The white sedan that struck it had heavy front-end damage, according to a photo a witness posted in response to a SEPTA posting on X, formerly known as Twitter. Busch confirmed it was a Mercedes-Benz.

SEPTA ran shuttle buses in both directions between Darby Loop and 49th Street and Chester Avenue until track inspectors determined there was no damage to the rails, Busch said. Regular trolley service resumed Sunday afternoon.

Sunday’s crash in Southwest Philadelphia comes as SEPTA continues to assess processes and procedures after five major crashes involving its buses and trolleys in a week last month that resulted in one death and at least 25 injuries. The transit authority has been reluctant to link the incidents but has acknowledged ongoing struggles with staffing. As part of its investigation, SEPTA said it planned to get feedback from employees on safety issues.

Before Sunday’s incident, the most recent serious crash was July 27 when an out-of-service SEPTA trolley rolled out of a trolley yard and into the street with a mechanic onboard before crashing into a SUV and a historic home in Southwest Philadelphia, injuring the mechanic and two passengers in the SUV. The others involved a Route 31 bus crashing into a storefront at 15th and Walnut Streets on July 25; the Route 101 and 102 trolleys crashing into each other in Upper Darby, hospitalizing five, on July 24; a bus crashing into an electrical pole in Fishtown, injuring four people on July 23; and a bus rear-ending another on Roosevelt Boulevard in Rhawnhurst, killing a passenger and injuring 13 others, on July 21.

According to SEPTA, there were 884 vehicular accidents on buses and trolleys in the first half of this year (between four and five per day on average), compared to 1,521 in the first half of 2022.

Staff writer Dylan Purcell contributed to this article.