Franklin Square (PATCO station)

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Franklin Square

Station statistics

Address

6th & Race Streets
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Lines

PATCO Speedline

Platforms

2 inter-connecting side platforms

Tracks

Other information

Opened

June 7, 1936

Closed

1979 (low ridership)

Owned by

Port Authority Transit Corporation

Services

Preceding station		PATCO		Following station
8th & Market toward 15–16th & Locust		PATCO Speedline		City Hall (Camden) toward Lindenwold

Franklin Square is an abandoned PATCO Speedline station located at Franklin Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

The station first opened on June 7, 1936, along with 8th Street in Philadelphia and City Hall and Broadway in Camden, New Jersey, as part of Philadelphia Rapid Transit's Bridge Line service. The station was opened for several years before it was closed, citing low ridership.

The station was refurbished and reopened as a PATCO station in 1976, coinciding with the Bicentennial celebration. The station remained open until 1979, when it was closed again due to low ridership.

All PATCO trains pass through this station when they enter Philadelphia. The platform and walkway are usually visible out the left side of the train. The interior is well lit and graffiti free. From the surface, entrances are visible, but sealed by metal doors, painted blue. These can be found built into the base of the "Bolt of Lightning" Sculpture, directly across the street from Franklin Square. If coming off the Vine Street Expressway and heading towards the Ben Franklin Bridge, drivers can view these entrances out of their left side as they circle around the base of the sculpture.

1 New service
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] New service

As part of several options aimed at the Philadelphia/South Jersey area, PATCO is considering a new trolley/streetcar service to begin at the Franklin Square Station and continue to Spring Garden Street and Pier 70 along Columbus Boulevard, that could be extended to the redeveloping Navy Yard area and new stadium complexes in South Philadelphia. This service would cost an estimated $700 million ($157.6 million per mile), offering service every 5 minutes at peak times and every 12 minutes off-peak.Under this proposal, the service could be operated by PATCO to allow free transfer to PATCO Riders on the Streetcar/Trolley from a reopened Franklin Square station.^[1].