30th Street Station

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Philadelphia-30th Street Station Amtrak station SEPTA Regional Rail commuter station New Jersey Transit commuter rail station
Station statistics
Address	2955 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-2989
Lines	Amtrak: Acela Express Cardinal Carolinian Crescent Keystone Service Pennsylvanian Northeast Regional Silver Star Silver Meteor Vermonter SEPTA: R1 R2 R3 R5 R6 R7 R8 New Jersey Transit: Atlantic City Line
Connections	SEPTA Regional Rail, SEPTA bus routes, and NJ Transit Atlantic City Line
Baggage check	Available for Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star
Other information
Code	PHL
Owned by	Amtrak
Traffic
Passengers (2007)	3,674,255[1] ▲ 3%
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Wilmington toward Washington Acela Express Trenton toward Boston (South) Wilmington toward Chicago Cardinal Trenton toward New York Wilmington toward Charlotte Carolinian Wilmington toward New Orleans Crescent Wilmington toward Savannah Palmetto Paoli toward Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian Wilmington toward Miami Silver Meteor Silver Star Ardmore toward Harrisburg Keystone Service North Philadelphia toward New York Wilmington toward Newport News Northeast Regional North Philadelphia toward Boston (South) or Springfield Wilmington toward Washington Vermonter Trenton toward St. Albans Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station University City toward Airport Terminals R1 Suburban Station toward Glenside University City toward Newark R2 Suburban Station toward Warminster University City toward Elwyn R3 Suburban Station toward West Trenton Overbrook toward Thorndale R5 Suburban Station toward Doylestown Wynnefield Ave toward Cynwyd R6 Suburban Station toward Elm Street, Norristown North Philadelphia toward Trenton R7 Suburban Station toward Chestnut Hill East North Philadelphia toward Chestnut Hill West R8 Suburban Station toward Fox Chase Preceding station   New Jersey Transit   Following station Terminus Atlantic City Line Cherry Hill toward Atlantic City

Thirtieth Street Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	W. River Dr., Market, 30th, and Arch Sts. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:	39°57′20.96″N 75°10′56.64″W / 39.9558222, -75.1824Coordinates: 39°57′20.96″N 75°10′56.64″W / 39.9558222, -75.1824
Built/Founded:	1925
Architect:	Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Architectural style(s):	Classical Revival
Added to NRHP:	June 07, 1978
NRHP Reference#:	78002456[2]
Governing body:	Department of Transportation

Northeast Corridor
Legend Boston South Station Boston Back Bay Route 128 Providence Kingston Westerly Mystic New London Springfield Hartford New Haven Bridgeport Stamford New Rochelle New York City Newark Metropark Princeton Junction Trenton Philadephia Wilmington Baltimore BWI Airport New Carrollton Washington DC

30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the heart of Philadelphia's passenger rail network.

Contents 1 History 1.1 "Ben Franklin Station" 2 Present day 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

The Chicago-based architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White designed the structure, originally known as Pennsylvania Station-30th Street (as with other Pennsylvania Stations), which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its design was influenced by the Northeast Corridor electrification, which allowed the tracks to pass beneath the main body of the station without exposing the passengers to soot from the steam engines of earlier times. The station itself also included a number of innovative features, including a pneumatic tube system, an electronic intercom, and a reinforced roof with space to allow the landing of small aircraft.^[3]

It was opened in 1933 by the former Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), which was headquartered in Philadelphia, to replace Broad Street Station when the latter became too small to handle Philadelphia's growing passenger-rail traffic. The PRR sought a location on its main line between New York and Washington. Broad St. Station was a stub-end terminal in Center City and through trains had to back in and then out again to continue on their journey. As Broad St. Station handled a very large commuter operation, an underground Suburban Station was built as part of the 30th St. Station project to handle it. Because of the depression and World War II Broad St. Station continued in operation until 1952, at which time 30th St. took over all its operations.^[4]

[edit] "Ben Franklin Station"

On December 25, 2005, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trust had asked Amtrak to change the name of 30th Street Station to Ben Franklin Station ^[5]. The change would coincide with the celebration of Ben Franklin's 300th birthday in January 2006. The cost of replacing signage at the train station was estimated at about $3 million.

On Jan. 13, the Inquirer reported that Philadelphia Mayor John Street, who had initially said he was unaware of the request, had thrown his support behind the name change. Philadelphians took the proposal with mixed reactions, according to the Inquirer stories. Former Philadelphia mayor and current Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell expressed a lukewarm reaction. Amtrak officials worried that a "Ben" station could be confused with its other three "Penn" stations. Still, Pew and Amtrak officials said that conversations were still underway. But the newspaper quoted Philadelphia charity manager H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest as saying that Pew had abandoned its proposal.^[6]

On January 25, 2006, Pew announced that it was abandoning its campaign, providing no reason.^[7]

[edit] Present day

The building is currently owned by Amtrak and houses many Amtrak corporate offices (although Amtrak is officially headquartered in Washington, D.C.). The 562,000 ft² (52,000 m²) facility features a cavernous main passenger concourse. Prominently displayed is the Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial, which honors Pennsylvania Railroad employees killed in World War II. It consists of a 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. Also found in the station are multiple shops, a McDonald's restaurant, two Dunkin Donuts, and a large food court. The station was featured in the 1981 film Blow Out, the 1983 film Trading Places, the 1985 film Witness starring Harrison Ford and M. Night Shyamalan's 2000 release Unbreakable.

Currently, trains from SEPTA, Amtrak, and New Jersey Transit serve this station. Amtrak intercity trains and NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line run through the station's lower level, while SEPTA Regional Rail lines serve the upper level. In addition, SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line (also known as the "El") and all of SEPTA's Subway-Surface Lines stop at the 30th Street subway station, less than 1/2 block (< 1/10 mile) from the southwest entrance to 30th Street Station. There is a tunnel between the underground subway station and 30th Street Station, but it has been closed off due to crime and vagrancy concerns. A number of the SEPTA system's bus lines also include stops at the station on their routes.

The station is one of the busiest intercity passenger railroad facilities in the United States. In Federal Fiscal Year 2006, it had 3,555,646 Amtrak boardings plus alightings, making it the 3rd busiest Amtrak station in the U.S. It ranks behind New York Penn Station and Washington Union Station in Amtrak passenger volume ^[1]. The station also has extensive locally and regionally-generated passenger volume; it is one of SEPTA's 3 primary regional rail hubs and is located within walking distance of various attractions in West Philadelphia, most notably the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University in University City.

Many important highways and streets pass next to or near the station. Vehicles and taxicabs can easily access the station from various major routes, including Market Street (PA Route 3), Interstate 76 (more commonly known as the Schuylkill Expressway in the Philadelphia area), and Interstate 676 (more commonly known as the Vine Street Expressway in the city of Philadelphia).^[3]

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 sits on land leased from Amtrak. César Pelli is best-known for the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Because Amtrak's service to Newark Liberty International Airport is codeshared with Continental Airlines, the station has the IATA Airport Code of ZFV.

[edit] See also

• Center City Commuter Connection
• Suburban Station
• Reading Terminal
• Amtrak
• Commuter rail in North America
• Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
• New Jersey Transit

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Amtrak - Stations - 30th Street Station

• Ridership figures, FY 2004
• Ridership figures, FY 2005
• Ridership figures, FY 2006
• Ridership figures, FY 2007

• 30th Street Station Homepage
• Graham, Anderson, Probst & White Homepage - see "Historical Architectural Projects" pages
• "Ben Franklin Station"^{[dead link]}
• Aerial perspective photo link

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