8th Street station (Philadelphia)

8th Street
8th & Market
8th & Market Eighth Street station main entrance
Location	Eighth & Market Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°57′07″N 75°09′24″W / 39.952076°N 75.156612°W / 39.952076; -75.156612
Owned by	Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (upper level) City of Philadelphia (lower level)
Line(s)	Market–Frankford Line   Broad Street Line Ridge Spur   PATCO Speedline
Platforms	3 side platforms (2 Market-Frankford, 1 Broad-Ridge Spur) 1 island platform (PATCO)
Tracks	2 – Market-Frankford Line 2 – PATCO Speedline 1 – Broad-Ridge Spur
Connections	SEPTA City Bus: 47, 61 SEPTA Regional Rail (at Jefferson Station)
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	August 3, 1908 (8th Street Station, Market Street Subway-Elevated, upper level) December 21, 1932 (Market Street Station, Ridge-8th Street Subway, lower level)
Rebuilt	February 15, 1969 (as 8th and Market station, Broad-Ridge Spur, upper level) 2009 (made ADA accessible)
Electrified	Third rail: 700 volts DC (MFL) 600 volts DC (BRS) 750 volts DC (PATCO)
Previous names	Ridge-8th Street Subway
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station 11th Street toward 69th Street Market–Frankford Line 5th Street toward Frankford Market–Frankford Line  A  Market–Frankford Line  B  Terminus Broad Street Line Ridge Spur  Ridge Spur  Chinatown toward Fern Rock Preceding station   PATCO   Following station 9–10th & Locust toward 15–16th & Locust PATCO Speedline Local City Hall toward Lindenwold PATCO Speedline Philadelphia Express PATCO Speedline Franklin Square closed 1979 Franklin Square toward Lindenwold
Location

8th Street is a subway station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the corner of 8th Street and Market Street. It is served by SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line and Broad–Ridge Spur, and the PATCO Speedline. The station is owned by SEPTA; PATCO leases its section.

The station is known as 8th Street on the Market-Frankford Line and the Broad-Ridge Spur, and 8th & Market on the PATCO Speedline. It has two levels, with PATCO running N/S on the lower level and SEPTA running E/W on the upper level. The Broad-Ridge Spur, a branch of the Broad Street Line, ends at the station on a single track as the southern terminus. It originally used an abandoned track connection to travel through the Locust Street Subway (now used by PATCO). No free transfers are available, even between the Market-Frankford Line and the Broad-Ridge Spur.

For decades 8th and Market was Philadelphia's retail hub, with major department stores Strawbridge's, Gimbels and Lit Brothers located at that corner, all with direct entrances to the subway. A concourse still feeds traffic from the station to The Gallery at Market East shopping mall.

Market-Frankford Line

SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line occupies the upper level of the station. The station has two side platforms on the north and south sides of the stations. Passengers may use a staircase within the paid area to transfer between platforms.

PATCO

PATCO occupies the lower level of the station. The station has one island platform located perpendicular to the Market-Frankford Line tracks above. The PATCO platform has two fare areas, one at the platform's north end (adjacent to the MFL's 69th Street-Bound Platform), the other at the south end (adjacent to the MFL's Frankford-Bound Platform). Each fare area contains a staircase, an elevator, and an "up escalator." Each PATCO platform has a distinct accent color: the 8th Street accent color is teal.

Station layout

Note: The Broad–Ridge Spur and the Market–Frankford Line platforms, while on the same level, are perpendicular to each other.

Gallery

• 
  MFL 8th Street platform
• 
  MFL 8th Street platform
• 
  Broad Ridge Spur 8th & Market station
• 
  Free transfer tunnel
• 
  PATCO station
• 
  PATCO station
• 
  The octagonal tower on the west end of the Lit Brothers building (2013). The 8th Street subway entrance was built inside the building.
• 
  Entrance to Gallery at Market East (now closed). The 8th Street and 11th Street stations were accessible from within the mall.
• 
  Market Street, looking west from 8th Street, in the mid-1980s

External links

Media related to 8th Street station (Philadelphia) at Wikimedia Commons

• SEPTA - 8th Street MFL and BRS stations
• 8th & Market (PATCO)
• 8th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View