30th Street Station, officially William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, is a major intermodal transit station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is metropolitan Philadelphia's main railroad station and a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone corridors.
The station is also a major commuter rail station served by all SEPTA Regional Rail lines and is the western terminus for NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line. The station is also served by several SEPTA-managed city and suburban buses and by NJ Transit, Amtrak Thruway, and various intercity operators.
The station, which served over four million inter-city rail passengers in 2018, is Amtrak's third-busiest, after Penn Station in Manhattan and Union Station in Washington, D.C., [9] and the 11th-busiest train station in North America.
In 2020, the station was named in honor of William H. Gray III, a former U.S. Congressman who represented Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district from 1979 until 1991.
The station is located at 2955 Market Street in the 30th Street Station District of the University City section of Philadelphia, near both the Schuylkill River and Center City. [1] The building opened in 1933, and has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.
30th Street Station is Amtrak's third-busiest station in the nation, and by far the busiest of the 24 stations in Pennsylvania, serving over four million Amtrak rail passengers and over 12 million SEPTA and NJ TRANSIT rail commuters annually. On any average weekday, 30th Street Station provides train service to over 100,000 passengers. [10]
Amtrak's code for the station is PHL. [1] The station's IATA Airport Code is ZFV, which is used primarily by a codeshare agreement allowing United Airlines to sell Amtrak service between the station and Newark Liberty International Airport.
The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was headquartered in Philadelphia, acquired tunnel rights from the Schuylkill River to 15th Street from the city of Philadelphia in return for land that the city needed to construct the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. This allowed the company to build both Suburban Station and 30th Street Station, [11] which replaced Broad Street station, which was deemed too small.
Broad Street Station was a stub-end terminal in Center City Philadelphia, where through trains had to back in and out, and the company wanted a location which would accommodate trains between New York City and Washington, D.C. Broad Street station also handled a large commuter operation, which the new underground Suburban Station was built to handle.
Due in part to the Great Depression and World War II, the Broad Street station remained open until 1952. [12]
Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, the Chicago-based firm that succeeded D.H. Burnham & Company, [11] designed the structure, originally known as Pennsylvania Station–30th Street in accord with the naming style of other Pennsylvania stations. Its design was influenced by the Northeast Corridor electrification that allowed trains to pass beneath the station without exposing passengers to soot as steam engines of earlier times had. The station had a number of innovative features, including a pneumatic tube system, an electronic intercom, and a reinforced roof with space for small aircraft to land, [13] and contained a mortuary, a chapel and more than 3,000 square feet of hospital space. [11]
Construction began in 1927 and the station opened in 1933, starting with two platform tracks. [6] The vast waiting room is faced with travertine and the coffered ceiling is painted gold, red and cream. The building's exterior has columned porte-cocheres on the west and east facade, and shows a balance between classical and modern architectural styles. [11]
Until 1958, 30th Street Station was one of two major intercity stations in Philadelphia; the other was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's station on Chestnut Street. However, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ended all service north of Baltimore in 1958, making 30th Street the major intercity terminal in the Delaware Valley metropolitan region.
In the 1970s, Amtrak installed a Solari board by Solari di Udine in the main waiting room to display train departure information.
On November 30, 2018, officials announced that the board—by then, the railroad's last remaining Solari device—would be replaced with a digital board. [14] [15]
A minor public outcry followed, and within days, Rep. Brendan Boyle urged Amtrak CEO Richard H. Anderson to reconsider. [15] [16] [17] In January 2019, Amtrak sent the board to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, reserving the right to reclaim it if it could be worked into the station's planned renovation. [18]
On February 28, 2019, the new digital board began operation. [19] The Museum placed the Solari board on static display in July 2019; [20] after the renovation it will return as a design element. [21]
In 2005, Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trust asked Amtrak to change the name of 30th Street Station to "Ben Franklin Station" in honor of Benjamin Franklin [22] and as part of the celebration of Franklin's 300th birthday in January 2006. The cost of replacing signs at the station was estimated at $3 million.
In January 2005, John F. Street, then the mayor of Philadelphia, announced his support for the name change, but others had mixed reactions to the proposal. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a former mayor of Philadelphia, was lukewarm, while Amtrak officials worried that a "Ben" station could be confused with its other three "Penn" stations. [23] On January 25, 2006, Pew abandoned the campaign, giving no reason. [23]
In August 2014, Congress passed legislation to rename the station William H. Gray III 30th Street Station in honor of William H. Gray III, a former U.S. Congressman from the Philadelphia area. [24] At the time, the change was to occur "in the next few months". [25]
In 2019, signs were installed outside the station with the new name and plans were announced for a statue of Gray and a memorial plaque. [26] The name change officially took effect on February 6, 2020. [27]
The building is owned by Amtrak and houses many Amtrak corporate offices, although Amtrak is officially headquartered near Union Station in Washington, D.C. The 562,000 ft2 (52,000 m2) facility features a cavernous main passenger concourse with ornate Art Deco decor.
Prominently displayed is the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial, which honors Pennsylvania Railroad employees killed in World War II. It consists of a bronze statue of the archangel Michael lifting the body of a dead soldier out of the flames of war, and was sculpted by Walker Hancock in 1950. On the four sides of the base of that sculpture are the 1,307 names of those employees in alphabetical order. [28]
The building was restored in 1991 by Dan Peter Kopple & Associates. [11] When the station was renovated, updated retail amenities were added. They include several shops, a large food court, car rental facilities, Saxbys Coffee, Dunkin' Donuts, and others.
The Amtrak 30th Street Parking Garage was designed by BLT Architects and completed in 2004. This nine-level, double helix garage provides 2,100 parking spaces and glass-enclosed stair tower and elevator to offer views of Philadelphia. [29] The following year in 2005, the Cira Centre office tower was opened between 30th Street and the garage, which was the station's first transit-oriented development built by Brandywine Realty Trust under a ground lease. A pedestrian bridge over Arch Street was also built, connecting from 30th Street Station's upper level to the parking garage and the Cira Centre; this prevents pedestrians from interacting with heavy traffic from PA 3 and I-76. [30]
In 2016, Amtrak, in partnership with Brandywine, Drexel University, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architects, released the 30th Street Station District master plan. [31] Building off of Brandywine and Drexel's Schuylkill Yards project, this 35-year plan envisions a modernized and expanded 30th Street Station capable of hosting 20 to 25 million annual passengers, an expansion of the outdoor plaza, new connections to SEPTA Metro, and a centralized intercity bus terminal. Similar to New York's Hudson Yards, the plan also envisions up to 18 million square feet of potential development through Schuylkill Yards and expansion over Penn Coach Yard, potentially hosting 10,000 residents and 40,000 jobs.
In 2023, Amtrak, in partnership with Plenary Group, announced that work would start on a $400 million renovation of the station aided by funds from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, serving as the first phase of the District Plan. [32] The project encompasses modernized retail and food court spaces, consolidation of ticketing and operations to create more concourse space, expansion of the Market Street "Porch" plaza, renovated Amtrak offices and Metropolitan Lounge, and state of good repair; a direct connection to SEPTA is not in scope. Work commenced in early 2024 and will last until October 2027. [33]
Many important highways and streets pass next to or near the station. Vehicles and taxicabs can reach the station from various major routes, including Market Street (PA 3), Interstate 76 (Schuylkill Expressway), and Interstate 676 (Vine Street Expressway). [13] The John F. Kennedy Boulevard Bridge is just east of the station.
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Trains from SEPTA, Amtrak, and NJ Transit serve the station. The three east-west Upper Level platforms serve SEPTA Regional Rail; all 13 Regional Rail lines stop at the station. It is one of three stations that are part of the Center City Commuter Connection. The north-south Lower Level platforms serve Amtrak trains, as well as NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line. [34]
SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line (also known as the "El") and all of SEPTA's subway–surface lines (routes T1 through T5) stop at the 30th Street subway station, less than half a block, or 0.1 miles (0.16 km), from the southwest entrance to 30th Street Station. A pedestrian tunnel once directly connected the underground subway station with all five lower level passenger platforms of 30th Street Station. [35] This was closed in the 1980s, reportedly due to safety concerns. SEPTA and Amtrak floated reopening the tunnel in the early 2000s, but the September 11 attacks derailed those plans. [36]
A number of SEPTA bus routes stop at or near the station, including Routes 9, 30, 31, 44, 49, 62, 124, 125, and LUCY (Loop through University City). [37]
Cira Centre, a 28-story glass-and-steel office tower opened in October 2005, is across Arch Street to the north and is connected by a skyway at the station's mezzanine level next to the upper-level SEPTA Regional Rail platforms. The tower is owned by Philadelphia-based Brandywine Realty Trust, was designed by architect César Pelli and BLT Architects, [29] [30] and sits on land leased from Amtrak.[ citation needed ]
The station has an Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge, which is accessible to Amtrak Guest Rewards Select Plus and Select Executive members, Acela Express first-class passengers, sleeping car passengers on overnight trains, and private railcar owners and lessees when the car is being hauled by Amtrak.
Budget Rent a Car, National, Avis, Alamo, and Hertz Rent A Car rent cars at counters in 30th Street Station.
Zipcar vehicles are parked outside 30th Street Station, mostly in reserved parking spaces on the south side of the station or, during construction, in the controlled-access parking lot outside Cira Centre.
30th Street Station is featured in several films including Glass (2019), The Visit (2015), The Happening (2008), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), Unbreakable (2000), Witness (1985), Trading Places (1983), Blow Out (1981), Marnie (1964), The Burglar (1957), and Pride of the Marines (1945). [38] [39]
In television, the station is featured in the recurring opening credits of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (season 2, episode 7). It also appears in the 2010 video game Heavy Rain .
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people throughout five counties in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It also manages projects that maintain, replace, and expand its infrastructure, facilities, and vehicles.
The Market–Frankford Line (MFL), currently rebranding as the L, is a rapid transit line in the SEPTA Metro network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The MFL runs from the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby, just outside of West Philadelphia, through Center City Philadelphia to the Frankford Transportation Center in Near Northeast Philadelphia. Starting in 2024, the line was rebranded as the "L" as part of the implementation of SEPTA Metro, wherein line names are simplified to a single letter.
The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by SEPTA and serving the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, its suburbs and satellite towns and cities. It is the sixth-busiest commuter railroad in the United States. In 2016, the Regional Rail system had an average of 132,000 daily riders and 118,800 daily riders as of 2019.
Transportation in Philadelphia involves the various modes of transport within the city and its required infrastructure. In addition to facilitating intracity travel, Philadelphia's transportation system connects Philadelphia to towns of its metropolitan area and surrounding areas within the Northeast megalopolis.
Wilmington station, also known as the Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station, is a passenger rail station in Wilmington, Delaware. It serves nine Amtrak train routes and is part of the Northeast Corridor. It also serves SEPTA Regional Rail commuter trains on the Wilmington/Newark Line as well as DART First State local buses and Greyhound Lines intercity buses.
The SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines are a collection of five SEPTA trolley lines that operate on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and also underneath Market Street in Philadelphia's Center City. The lines, Routes 10, 11, 13, 34, and 36, collectively operate on about 39.6 miles (63.7 km) of route.
Trenton Transit Center is the main passenger train station in Trenton, New Jersey. It is the southernmost stop in New Jersey on the Northeast Corridor. It is the terminus for NJ Transit trains to and from New York City and SEPTA Trenton Line Regional Rail trains to and from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and an intermediate station for Amtrak trains traveling between the two cities along the Northeast Corridor.
The Trenton Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail system. The route serves the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with service in Bucks County along the Delaware River to Trenton, New Jersey.
Schuylkill River Passenger Rail is a proposed passenger train service along the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia and Reading, Pennsylvania, with intermediate stops in Norristown, King of Prussia, Phoenixville, and Pottstown.
The Cira Centre is a 29-story, 437-foot (133 m) office high-rise in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia, directly connected to Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Developed by Brandywine Realty Trust and designed by César Pelli, it was built in 2004-05 on a platform over rail tracks.
Route 11, also known as the Woodland Avenue Line, is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects the 13th Street station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Darby Transportation Center in Darby, Pennsylvania. It is one of five lines that are part of the subway–surface trolley system. Sitting at an average of 13,580 riders per weekday in 2019, it is the most used subway-surface trolley route, even though it lacks overnight service. This route will be rebranded as the T4 as part of the transition to SEPTA Metro.
SEPTA's subway–surface trolley route 34, also called the Baltimore Avenue subway line, is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects the 13th Street station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the Angora Loop station in the Angora neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Route 34 will be rebranded as the T2 as part of the transition to SEPTA Metro.
SEPTA's Subway-Surface Trolley Route 36 is a trolley line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that connects the 13th Street station in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the Eastwick Loop station in Eastwick section of Southwest Philadelphia, although limited service is available to the Elmwood Carhouse. It is the longest of the five lines that are part of the Subway-Surface Trolley system, and was even longer between 1956 and 1962 when the western terminus was at 94th Street and Eastwick Avenue. From 1962 through the 1970s, it was at 88th Street and Eastwick Avenue, making the route 16.2 miles (26.1 km) long. Since 1975, it only goes as far as what was once 80th Street at the southern edge of the Penrose Plaza shopping center parking lot. Route 36 will be rebranded as the T5 as part of the transition to SEPTA Metro.
North Philadelphia station is an intercity rail and regional rail station on the Northeast Corridor, located on North Broad Street in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. SEPTA Regional Rail's Trenton Line and Chestnut Hill West Line account for most of the station's service. Three Amtrak trains, two southbound and one northbound, stop on weekdays only.
Drexel Station at 30th Street is an underground SEPTA Metro station in Philadelphia. It is located on Market Street between 30th and 31st Streets in the University City neighborhood, adjacent to 30th Street Station and Drexel University. The station features four tracks – the inner pair serving the L and the outer pair for the T.
52nd Street is a closed train station that was located at the intersection of North 52nd Street & Merion Avenue in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) at the junction of its Main Line and its Schuylkill Branch. Today, these lines are the SEPTA Regional Rail Paoli/Thorndale Line and Cynwyd Line, respectively.
The Paoli/Thorndale Line, commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County and Delaware County to Thorndale in Chester County. It operates along the far eastern leg of Amtrak's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line, which in turn was once the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and is now part of the Keystone Corridor, a federally-designated high-speed rail corridor.
The Cynwyd Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line from Center City Philadelphia to Cynwyd in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Ivy Ridge Line, service was truncated on May 17, 1986, at its current terminus at Cynwyd.
The Manayunk/Norristown Line is a commuter rail service in Southeastern Pennsylvania between Center City Philadelphia and Norristown, and one of the 13 lines in SEPTA's Regional Rail network. It has the second highest operating ratio (19.9%) on the SEPTA Regional Rail network.
The 30th Street Station District, also referred to as the 30th Street District, is a master planned urban development centered around 30th Street Station located in West Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The area, if approved and built, will be home to eight modern skyscrapers or high rises ranging in heights between 405 ft and 1,200 ft with four other buildings under 400 feet. The property will be owned by Amtrak and will be a major addition to the City of Philadelphia. The project is expected to cost between seven and eleven billion dollars.