Temple University station

Temple University
Two Silverliner IV trains entering Temple University station
General information
Location915 West Berks Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates39°58′54″N 75°08′58″W / 39.9816°N 75.1495°W / 39.9816; -75.1495
Owned bySEPTA
Line(s)SEPTA Main Line
Platforms2 island platforms
Tracks4
ConnectionsBus transport SEPTA City Bus: 3, 23, 47
Construction
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zoneCC[1]
History
Opened1911 (1911)
Rebuilt1992
Passengers
20173,191 boardings
2,682 alightings
(weekday average)[2]
Rank4 of 146
Services
Preceding station SEPTA Following station
Jefferson
toward Airport
Airport Line Wayne Junction
toward Glenside
Jefferson Chestnut Hill West Line Terminus
Jefferson
toward Wawa
Media/Wawa Line
Jefferson
toward Thorndale
Paoli/​Thorndale Line
Jefferson
toward Trenton
Trenton Line
Jefferson
toward Newark
Wilmington/​Newark Line
Jefferson Chestnut Hill East Line Wayne Junction
Fox Chase Line Wayne Junction
toward Fox Chase
Lansdale/​Doylestown Line North Broad
toward Doylestown
Jefferson Manayunk/​Norristown Line North Broad
Warminster Line Wayne Junction
toward Warminster
West Trenton Line Wayne Junction
Former services (SEPTA)
Preceding station SEPTA Following station
Spring Garden Street Bethlehem Line Wayne Junction
toward Allentown
Chestnut Hill East Line Wayne Junction
Newtown Line Wayne Junction
toward Newtown
Lansdale/​Doylestown Line North Broad
toward Doylestown
     Pottsville Line did not stop here
Spring Garden Street Warminster Line Wayne Junction
toward Warminster
West Trenton Line Wayne Junction
Former services (Reading)
Preceding station Reading Railroad Following station
Spring Garden Street Main Line North Broad Street
toward Pottsville
Bethlehem Branch North Broad Street
toward Bethlehem
New York Branch North Broad Street
Norristown Branch North Broad Street
toward Elm Street
Girard Avenue Chestnut Hill Branch North Broad Street
Location
Map

Temple University station is an above-ground SEPTA Regional Rail station located at the eastern edge of the Temple University campus at 915 West Berks Street between 9th and 10th Streets, in the Cecil B. Moore section of Lower North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3] The station is in the Center City fare zone, although the station itself is located in North Philadelphia.

There is a small ticket kiosk located at the base of the stairs on the street level. Temple University maintains a security kiosk at street level. Stairways and two elevators lead up to the high-level platforms at track level. There are two island platforms serving four tracks. Each platform is 380 feet (120 meters) long, long enough to platform four cars with only the end doors being used. The platforms have a canopy overhead and some wind-breaking walls but are otherwise exposed to the weather.

This station is located approximately 2.6 track miles from Suburban Station. In FY 2005, Temple University station was the fourth busiest station in SEPTA's Regional Rail system, with 2,448 average total weekday boardings and 2,593 average weekday alightings.[4] The station also has two large bicycle racks that both have roofs above them to protect bikes against the weather. The station can easily accommodate 30+ bicycles. The racks are also in full view of the 24-hour security guard.

Station history

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Built in 1911, the old Temple University station achieved infamy in November 1984 when SEPTA was forced to shut down the Reading side of the railroad above North Broad Street Station. A few days after the Center City Commuter Connection and Market East station (now Jefferson Station) fully opened, some of the girders supporting the tracks in the platform area on the bridge over the avenue were discovered to be in imminent danger of collapse. The emergency repairs, completed early in 1985, included demolishing the station and replacing it with temporary wooden low-level platforms and steel stairs which served until the new station opened. This event helped draw attention to the deterioration of North American railroad and transit infrastructure; the two-year-long RailWorks project which resulted would provide a permanent, modern station at a location more convenient to Temple's campus.

The station was opened in 1992 and was built for $37 million as part of SEPTA's RailWorks project to rebuild the Reading Railroad viaduct in North Philadelphia. The station sits on the Reading side of the system and almost all trains stop here. The new station replaced the older Temple University station, which was originally named Columbia Avenue (a street since renamed Cecil B. Moore Avenue). The old station, located at 39°58′39″N 75°08′59″W / 39.977465°N 75.149835°W / 39.977465; -75.149835, had two island platforms serving all four tracks, but was served by only a few peak hour trains by the time SEPTA began operation of the railroad.

Station layout

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The station has two island platforms serving four tracks.

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Fare Zone Map" (PDF). SEPTA.
  2. ^ "Fiscal Year 2021 Service Plan Update". SEPTA. June 2020. p. 24. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  3. ^ SEPTA (2006). Temple University Station. Archived 2006-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "SEPTA (May 2006). Annual Service Plan 2007. p. 83" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-01-05. (539 KiB)
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Media related to Temple University (SEPTA station) at Wikimedia Commons