By late afternoon, buses and trolleys were running at about 50 percent, SEPTA spokesman Jim Whitaker said. The subway and Regional Rail lines were all running on schedule, he said.

Transport Workers Union Local 234 and United Transportation Union 1594 had gone on strike at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 31 after contract negotiations stalled.

Local 1594, which represents about 325 suburban operators, also reached a contract agreement yesterday morning. The terms of its contract are similar to those of Local 234, Whitaker said.

Gov. Rendell, who helped engineered the overnight negotiations between SEPTA and its biggest union, emerged from his office at the Bellevue at 5:30 o'clock yesterday morning with news of a settlement.

"This," the governor proclaimed, "is a very good contract."

An hour later, subway and elevated trains were clattering again on their local runs through the city. The Norristown Route 100 High Speed line followed soone after. And as union workers got the word and headed to their jobs, buses began returning on scattered routes.

For 400,000 daily riders, the agreement ended seven long days of aggravation, during which they had been forced to crowd onto regional trains, to hire taxis, to impose on friends for rides, or to just sit at home, stuck.

By 7 a.m., 69th Street Terminal was slowly coming back to life, an abandoned picket sign leaning against one wall.

"It's nice to be back in the regular groove," said John Reusche of Broomall, who works for Wachovia in Center City. "I heard it on the radio. I've been checking every morning."

Frank Piergiovanni, 42, of Havertown, said it had been taking him about an hour and 15 minutes each way to get to his Center City job during the strike. He was glad get back to his usual 45-minute commute.

Redina Crawford, 51, of South Philadelphia who works as a cleaner at the Veteran's Administration on Wissahickon Avenue, said the strike was a great inconvenience for her.

"I had to put a lot of money out in taxi fare to get to the regional rail every day," she said.

For 5,000 members of Transport Workers Union Local 234, the four-year deal marked a resumption of paychecks and benefits -- the paychecks slightly larger, the benefits slightly more expensive.

The contract calls for four straight years of 3 percent pay increases. And for the first time, all Local 234 members will be contributing to the cost of their medical insurance premiums, a concession that SEPTA had been determined to win.

But those contributions will not be made on the terms that SEPTA management initially had wished. Instead of everyone kicking in for 5 percent of the cost of their health plans, workers will contribute 1 percent of their pay for up to 40 hours per week.

"We made strides, so did SEPTA, and we're pleased with this agreement," said Local 234 President Jeffrey Brooks.

After the negotiations ended, Brooks brought the contract back to union headquarters on Spring Garden Street in Center City. There, the union's executive board voted in favor of the contract, said union spokesman Bob Bedard. Membership will likely vote in the next week, he said.

SEPTA management has agreed as well to contribute a percentage of their wages toward their own health plans -- also a first.

Other details of the contract proposal were not immediately disclosed, but Rendell said improvements also were made to the workers' pension plan.