Route 59
Castor–Bustleton to Arrott Transportation Center
Route 59 trackless trolley en route to Bells Corner
Overview
System	Frankford District[1]
Operator	SEPTA City Transit Division
Began service	1950 (1950) (trackless trolleys)
Route
Locale	Philadelphia
Communities served	Northeast Philadelphia
Start	Bells Corner Loop (Castor and Bustleton Avenues)
Via	Castor Avenue, Oxford Avenue
End	Arrott Transportation Center
Length	4.1 miles (6.6 km)
Service
Journey time	17 minutes
Ridership	4,068 (2019 weekday average)[1]
Annual patronage	1,182,018 (FY2019)
Timetable	Route 59 schedule
Route map ← 58  City Transit Division  60 →

Route 59 is atrackless trolley line operated bySEPTA that runs from theMarket–Frankford Line (now known as theL line) atArrott Transportation Center Station to Bells Corner inRhawnhurst, primarily along Oxford and Castor Avenues. Major stops along the route includeOxford Circle and the Alma Loop inCastor, which is near a shopping center and a junior high and senior high school. It is one of three surviving routes of thePhiladelphia trolley bus system.

The trackless trolleys (or trolleybuses) replacedtrolley cars (streetcars) on the route on in June 25, 1950.^[2]

Diesel buses temporarily replaced trackless trolleys on route 59 in June 2002,^[2] because of reconstruction of Frankford Depot (garage) and the adjacentMarket-Frankford "El" viaduct and station, which required the temporary removal of theoverhead trolley wires used by trackless trolleys both at the garage and along thedeadhead route (under the El viaduct) connecting route 59 to the garage. However, trackless service was restored in April 2008.^[3] All of the vehicles currently in use areADA-compliant and equipped with bicycle racks.

• Trolleybuses in Philadelphia

• SEPTA Route 59 (Official schedule and map)
• Flickr Photo

• Philadelphia-area trackless trolleys
• 1950 establishments in Pennsylvania
• SEPTA bus routes

• Use mdy dates from February 2025