Suburban Station

Suburban Station is an underground, art deco, commuter rail station in the Penn Center district of Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard.^[2] The station is operated by SEPTA and is one of the three core Center City stations on the SEPTA Regional Rail. It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad to replace the original Broad Street Station and opened on September 28, 1930.

History

The station opened as a stub-end terminal for Pennsylvania Railroad trains serving Center City Philadelphia, intended to replace the above-ground Broad Street Station in this function. The station's full name was originally Broad Street Suburban Station. One Penn Center served as the headquarters of the PRR from 1930 to 1957.

Plans for a tunnel to link the Pennsylvania and Reading commuter lines were floated as early as the 1950s, but funding to seriously study the project did not start until the late 1960s. The project languished in the 1970s due to lack of funding until federal money was appropriated during Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo's time in office.

Suburban Station was originally a stub-end terminal station with 8 tracks and 4 platforms until 1984 when the Center City Commuter Connection project extended four of those tracks eastward to the new Market East Station, widened two of the existing platforms, realigned the tracks and added a fifth platform. The recently renovated 21-story building above is also the core of the Penn Center office complex, and is known as One Penn Center at Suburban Station. The office building attained an Energy Star Rating in 2009.^[3]

BLT Architects transformed Suburban Station in 2006. The station was redesigned to make navigation easier and adapt to current pedestrian traffic.^[4] Upgrades included increased retail space, an improved HVAC system, and a restored/refurbished waiting area. The station is now in full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The Comcast Center, situated on the north half of its block near Arch Street, adds a "winter garden" on the south side, which serves as a new back entrance to the station, with the commuter rail tracks about 50 feet below street level.

Services

All SEPTA Regional Rail trains stop at this station. All run through except those on the Cynwyd Line as well as some limited/express trains which terminate on one of the stub-end tracks at this station. Through trains usually change crews at this station.

The station has an extensive concourse level above track level. This concourse has SEPTA ticket offices, retail shops and restaurants, and access to other SEPTA stations and to several Center City buildings. The connections include the Broad Street Line at the City Hall station and the Market-Frankford Line and Subway-Surface Lines at the 15th Street station.

References

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Suburban_Station_(SEPTA) Suburban Station (SEPTA)] at Wikimedia Commons

• SEPTA - Suburban Station
• Pennsylvania Railroad - Suburban Station (Pennsylvania Railroad Stations; Past & Present)
• JFK Boulevard and 17th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• JFK Boulevard and 18th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• JFK Boulevard and 16th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 16th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Main entrance from Google Maps Street View
• JFK Boulevard and 15th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View