Suburban Station

Infobox Station
name=Suburban Station


image_size=
image_caption=
address=16th Street & JFK Boulevard
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
line=rail color box|system=SEPTA|line=R1
other=rail color box|system=SEPTA|line=Broad Streetrail color box|system=SEPTA|line=Market-Frankfordrail color box|system=SEPTA|line=Subway-Surface
platform=5 island platforms
tracks=8
passengers=5.692 million
pass_year=2005
pass_percent=-7
pass_system=
opened=September 28, 1930
owned=Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
rebuilt=January 9, 2007 (completion)
ADA=yes
zone=C
services=s-rail|title=SEPTAInfobox_nrhp | name =Suburban Station Building
nrhp_type =


caption =
location= 1617 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
lat_degrees = 39
lat_minutes = 57
lat_seconds = 7.38
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 75
long_minutes = 10
long_seconds = 28.79
long_direction = W
locmapin = Pennsylvania
area =
built =1929
architect= Graham, Anderson, Probst & White; Stewart, Joseph, & Co.
architecture= Art Deco
added = September 05, 1985
governing_body = Private
refnum=85001962cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Suburban Station is an underground commuter rail station in the Penn Center district of Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. [http://www.septa.org/maps/click_map/suburban.html] 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. Suburban Station was a stub-end terminal station with 8 tracks and 4 platforms until the Center City Commuter Connection project extended four of those tracks eastward to the new Market East Station. 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. (Conductors often call out the name of this station as, "Penn Center Suburban Station.")

All SEPTA Regional Rail trains stop at this station. All run through except those on the R6 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.

The concourse of the station has undergone a major renovation, completed in January 2007. [http://www.septa.org/news/construction/suburban_station.html] 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, located on the north side of its block near Arch Street, adds a "winter garden" on the south side, where the train tracks run several feet below, serving as a new main entrance to the station.

History

When the station opened, it was a stub-end terminal for Pennsylvania Railroad trains serving Center City Philadelphia, replacing 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 for the construction until federal money was appropriated during Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo's time in office.

References

External links

* [http://www.septa.org/maps/click_map/suburban.html SEPTA - Suburban Station]
* [http://www.west2k.com/papix/philadelphiasuburban.jpgPennsylvania Railroad - Suburban Station (Pennsylvania Railroad Stations; Past & Present)]