A B 737 CAPT IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE LACK OF TXWY CTRLINE LIGHTS AT BUSY ARPTS AND THE LOW INTENSITY OF OTHER ARPT LIGHTING SYSTEMS.

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IT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE IN 20 YRS OF AIRLINE FLYING THAT ARPTS ARE GETTING DARKER: APCH LIGHTS; RWY LIGHTS; AND TXWY LIGHTS ARE NOT AS BRIGHT AS THEY USED TO BE. IN COMPARISON TO THE BRITISH WE DO NOT HOLD A CANDLE TO THEM! SPECIFICALLY I HAD A PROB LAST NIGHT LNDG AT PHL AT XA:20 LCL. I BRIEFED LNDG ON RWY 27R WITH A R TURN OFF FROM THE RWY ON TO TXWY T. ON ROLLOUT; THE CTR LINE LIGHTS OF TXWY K4 WENT BY AND I STARTED LOOKING FOR TXWY T. IN DAYLIGHT I WOULD USE A VISUAL ON THE TXWY TO PLAN MY SLOW DOWN. LAST NIGHT I HAD TO SLOW DOWN AND LOOK FOR TXWY T. WHEN I FINALLY FIGURED OUT WHERE IT SHOULD BE; I WAS SHOCKED HOW DARK IT WAS. IT WAS BLACK ASPHALT. THERE WERE SOME BLUE TXWY LIGHTS; BUT THEY WERE TOO FAR OFF FROM THE RWY. MOSTLY THERE WERE L382 REFLECTORS IN PLACE AND THE TXWY HAD NO CTRLINE LIGHTING. THE WAY I ACTUALLY FOUND THE T TXWY WAS BY NOTICING A DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY THE WHITE RWY LIGHTS ON MY R WERE DISPLAYED AND BECAUSE IT WAS SO DARK AT THAT SPOT THAT IT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION. WHEN I STARTED MY TURN FROM THE RWY ON TO WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE TXWY; I USED EXTREME CAUTION. WITH BETTER LIGHTING IT WOULD NOT BE THAT WAY. ALL MY SENSES SAID THAT IS WHERE I SHOULD BE BUT I WAS NOT POSITIVE. IT WAS ONLY AFTER I STARTED THE TURN THAT MY LNDG LIGHTS SHINED ON THE TXWY PAVEMENT AND OTHER OBJECTS WAS IT CONFIRMED TO ME THAT I HAD FOUND TXWY T. PHL COMMERCIAL CHART DOES NOT HAVE A GENERAL REMARK TO SHOW THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE TXWYS ARE ONLY MARKED WITH L853 REFLECTORS. THEY ARE INADEQUATE. AVIATION CIRCULAR 150/5340-24 SAYS THEY ARE ONLY TO BE USED AT NON BUSY ARPTS. UNFORTUNATELY; I AM SEEING THEM AT MORE LARGE ARPTS LIKE PHL AND DFW. WITH THE CURRENT EMPHASIS ON STOPPING RWY INCURSIONS; I WOULD THINK MARKING TXWYS CLEARLY FOR NIGHT USE WOULD BE A GOAL. EVERY ARPT I HAVE LANDED AT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM HAS HAD GREAT LIGHTING; DAY OR NIGHT. DO THEY HAVE A RWY INCURSION PROB? PLEASE STOP THE ABOLISHMENT OF BLUE TXWY LIGHTS AT MAJOR ARPTS! CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR INDICATED THAT IN THE UNITED STATES; THE ARPT LIGHTS APPEAR TO BE DIMMER THAN THEY USE TO BE. HE MENTIONS THAT A LOT OF TIMES WHEN LOW VIS CONDITIONS EXIST; THAT HE NOTICES THE PAVEMENT BEFORE THE LIGHTS DURING AN ILS APCH. HE STATED THAT HE KNOWS FOR A FACT THE PHL; ORD; AND SFO ARPT LIGHTS ARE INTENSITY CTLED BY TIME OF SUNSET AND SUNRISE. THIS IS A PROB BECAUSE DURING TIMES OF LOW VIS IT CAN BE VERY HARD TO SEE THE LIGHTS. ANOTHER AREA OF CONCERN THAT THE RPTR HAS IS THE LACK OF STANDARDS THAT ARPTS HAVE WITH CONCERN TO LIGHTING. FOR EXAMPLE SOMETIMES THERE ARE NOT TXWY CTRLINE TURN OFF LIGHTS. SOMETIMES THERE ARE AND THEY ARE GREEN. THEN AT ORD THERE ARE; BUT THEY ARE ALTERNATING GREEN AND WHITE. IN THIS CASE; THE RPTR FOUND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE THE TXWY LIGHTS AT PHL BECAUSE THEY WERE VERY DIM AND THERE WERE NO TURN OFF LIGHTS.