Market East Station

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Market East
11th Street entrance to Market East Station
Station statistics
Address	12th and Filbert Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°57′08″N 75°09′24″W / 39.952076, -75.156612
Lines	R1 R2 R3 R5 R6 R7 R8
Connections	Market–Frankford Line (at 11th St. and 8th St.) Broad Street Line (Ridge Spur at 8th St.) PATCO Speedline (at 8th St.) SEPTA bus routes 9, 17, 23, 33, 38, 44, 47, 47M, 48, 61, 62, 121 NJ Transit bus routes 400-410,412,413,419 Greyhound Lines Bieber Tourways Capitol Trailways Martz Trailways Peter Pan Bus Lines Susquehanna Trailways
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	1984
Accessible
Owned by	SEPTA
Fare zone	C
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station Suburban Station toward Airport Terminals R1 Temple University toward Glenside Suburban Station toward Newark R2 Temple University toward Warminster Suburban Station toward Elwyn R3 Temple University toward West Trenton Suburban Station toward Thorndale R5 Temple University toward Doylestown Suburban Station toward Cynwyd R6 Temple University toward Elm Street, Norristown Suburban Station toward Trenton R7 Temple University toward Chestnut Hill East Suburban Station toward Chestnut Hill West R8 Temple University toward Fox Chase

Market East Station is an underground SEPTA Regional Rail station located in the Market East neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 12th and Filbert streets.^[1] It is the easternmost of the three Center City stations on the SEPTA Regional Rail system, and is part of the Center City Commuter Connection, which connects the former Penn Central commuter lines with the former Reading Railroad commuter lines. The station opened in 1984, is owned and maintained by SEPTA, and replaced the former Reading Terminal, which a small part of the station is directly under. (The old terminal became part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.)

Contents 1 Building 2 Station 3 Service 4 Intermodal Connections 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Building

The station is part of the Gallery at Market East, a shopping mall built as part of an urban renewal project in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There are several entrances to the station, including several on the concourse level to the "Gallery II" part of the mall. After the Convention Center was opened, a new entrance was built in the Reading Terminal headhouse on Market Street.

Architecturally, the design of Market East station is integrated with the Gallery mall. Stainless steel and large plate-glass windows are a major design element, with large color tile murals adorning the walls and the extensive use of tile for flooring. The upper seating area has recently been renovated with metal benches facing the windows that look down onto the tracks. The large windows are used both for exterior windows, where they admit light from street level down to track level like a clerestory, and for separating the concourse level from the track level. Because this is an underground station and the clerestory section is only a small part of the station, artificial lighting is used throughout the station.

[edit] Station

The station extends under three city blocks and the platforms are along the northern edge of the blocks. The tracks here are the deepest ones in Philadelphia.

There are several monitors which show the status of the trains at these entrances, as well as near the ticket windows and at the tops of the escalators to the track level. At least one of the ticket windows, which are located on the concourse level, is open daily.

There are two wide island platforms and four tracks, with each platform serving two tracks. Each platform is divided into an "A" section and a "B" section so that trains on different routes stop at different spots along the platform length. This allows waiting passengers to be dispersed along the platform rather than congregating.

Overhead electric catenary wires supply power to the trains. Due to ventilation issues, diesel trains do not stop in the station, but sometimes a SEPTA diesel work train will go through the station without stopping. In this situation, the track must be clear through the tunnel before the diesel train is allowed through.

To the west, the tracks have a set of cross-over tracks that allow trains to change tracks before they reach Suburban Station. To the east, there is a sharp curve north where trains are limited to about 20 to 25 mph, and then another set of cross-overs before climbing an incline of over 2.5% to Temple University Station. Market East Station is approximately 0.5 miles from Suburban Station.

[edit] Service

Market East Station is served by all Regional Rail lines except the limited-service R6 Cynwyd line, which terminates at Suburban Station. In FY 2005, the average total weekday boardings at this station was 11,848, making it the second busiest station in the Regional Rail system.^[2]

[edit] Intermodal Connections

The station is connected underground to SEPTA's heavy rail Market-Frankford Line and Broad-Ridge Spur and also the PATCO High Speed Line at their shared 8th Street station. There is also a below-ground connection to the Market-Frankford Line at the line's 11th Street station. Market East Station is adjacent to various SEPTA and New Jersey Transit bus routes that travel on Market Street. Finally, the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal is immediately north of the station across Filbert Street.

[edit] References

1. ^ SEPTA
2. ^ SEPTA (May 2006). Annual Service Plan 2007. p. 83PDF (539 KiB)

[edit] External links

• SEPTA - Market East Station

v • d • e SEPTA City Transit Division Market–Frankford Line • Broad Street Line • Subway–Surface Trolley Lines • Route 15 (Girard Avenue Trolley) • City surface routes Suburban Division Route 100 (Norristown High-Speed Line) • Routes 101 and 102 (Media–Sharon Hill Line) • Suburban bus routes Regional Rail R1 • R2 • R3 • R5 • R6 • R7 • R8 Major stations Frankford Transportation Center • Market East Station • Norristown Transportation Center • Olney Transportation Center • Suburban Station • 30th Street Station • 69th Street Terminal