SEPTA Route 135 replaces Krapf’s Route A

SEPTA Route 135 is the result of a deal signed on June 24th, 2021, between SEPTA and Krapf’s for $68,000. The deal means that SEPTA will take over Krapf’s route A, which currently operates from Coatesville to West Chester. Route A will become SEPTA route 135 on August 1st. With that said, it will continue to operate from Coatesville, Thorndale, and Downingtown, to Exton and West Chester.

Funding to operate Krapf’s route A was slowly dwindling over time. After a while, Krapf’s was struggling to operate the line according to reports. When COVID-19 hit, it became clear that the service will need some big changes, or it would ultimately be eliminated. SEPTA, who also provided a subsidy to Krapf’s to operate service, tried to come up with ways to keep the line running,

Outside of new bus stop signs and the use of SEPTA buses, the line is meant to remain unaffected. During the transition period, SEPTA will be doing outreach along the line to get customers accustomed to the new operation. SEPTA will operate route 135 out of Frontier depot in Conshohocken, PA.

History of Route A

Krapf’s route A began as SEPTA/Reeders route 120 service between Coatesville, Downingtown, and Exton. This route, along with the 121 (92) and 122 (defunct) were part of SEPTA and Reeder’s partnership, which aimed to have expanded bus service in West Chester County. These three routes all used SEPTA branded vehicles but were under Reeder’s operation until ultimately Reeders went defunct. In 1992, Krapf took over route 120 and rebranded it into route A. Forming Krapf’s Transit, which to this day is still running strong.

With SEPTA taking over the line, Krapfs will be able to focus on their other operations, such as the Navy Yard Transit. SEPTA will be returning to operations of their former line, but with a new number.

About the author: Dash

I have been with Virtual Transit Center since it's conception as the "Dash Forums" back in 2008. Since then, I have been writing and doing YouTube side by side, focusing both on Transportation and Gaming. Most of my knowledge comes from SEPTA as I lived in Philadelphia for most of my life. As of 2021, I am on YouTube as DashTransit, Dash5155, and TheDashOfficial.

As for the name DashTransit itself, it actually stems from my YouTube channel.

DashTransit was originally called "njt5329" and the channel was just clips of buses. Mostly SEPTA and NJT. A Fujifilm Finepix was used in this era.

Starting in July 2011, the Canon SX130IS camera became the camera of the channel, bringing HD documentary-style videos much like my buddy (trainman1971) did for DVD for many years past. This is when the channel became known as "Transit Action Series"

In May 2012, the original Canon SX130IS retired, and then all videos were recorded off a mobile phone until eventually uploaded proved too difficult due to hardships IRL

Starting in 2017, I used a Canon SX200IS from Bastranz to reboot the channel that otherwise was dead for a whole year prior.

Between April 19th, 2019, and January 21st, 2021, all videos were recorded by a Canon SX710 HS camera. The channel was renamed DashTransit 4/19/19.