University City (SEPTA station)

University City
SEPTA regional rail
Location South Street & Convention Avenue
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Coordinates 39°56′52″N 75°11′25″W / 39.94784°N 75.19034°WCoordinates: 39°56′52″N 75°11′25″W / 39.94784°N 75.19034°W
Owned by SEPTA
Line(s)
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking No
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone C
History
Opened 1995
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station
Airport Line
toward Elwyn
Media/Elwyn Line
TerminusWarminster Line
toward Warminster
West Trenton Line
toward West Trenton
toward Newark
Wilmington/Newark Line

University City is a railway station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the SEPTA Regional Rail system. The station serves the area around the University of Pennsylvania, and is located at South Street and Convention Avenue. It serves the Airport, Wilmington/Newark, Media/Elwyn, Warminster, and West Trenton Regional Rail Lines. In 2013, this station saw 3091 boardings and 2950 alightings on an average weekday.[1]

The station is less than a block from the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field and the Palestra. In addition to the University of Pennsylvania campus, it is convenient to the medical campuses of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The Drexel University campus, and the Graduate Hospital campus and neighborhood across the Schuylkill River, can also be accessed from the station.

History

University City station was conceived in 1979 by the City of Philadelphia as Civic Center, under which name it appeared (as "proposed") on SEPTA informational maps of the 1980s. That name was no longer relevant by the time construction began in 1993, as its intended namesake, the Philadelphia Civic Center, had closed due to the opening of the replacement Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City. The station instead opened with the regionally descriptive name of University City on April 24, 1995.[2]

Routes served

Since its inception, the station has been a stop for all trains on the five SEPTA rail lines which pass through the station, including rush-hour express trains on the Wilmington/Newark and Media/Elwyn lines; thus it has an extremely high level of service at all times.[2] Even though not all lines serve it, University City is listed in timetables and other SEPTA literature as one of the five Center City Philadelphia (CCP) stations, and falls within the CCP/Zone 1 Regional Rail fare zone.

The station is also served by SEPTA bus route 40 which runs along South Street, and bus routes 30, 42 and the LUCY Green Loop from the nearby corner of Convention Avenue and Health Sciences Drive.

Unbreakable

Spruce St. entrance, used in the movie.

The station made a brief appearance in the movie Unbreakable as Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson) falls down the stairs to the platform. It is portrayed as a subway station with turnstiles in the movie, though in reality it is a commuter rail station, with staffed ticket booths, conductors collecting fares aboard trains, and no turnstiles.

References

  1. ↑ SEPTA (May 2014). Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Service Plan. p. 61 PDF (539 KB)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rubin, Daniel (April 21, 1995). "University City Rail Station To Open Monday". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 4 October 2013.

External links