North Broad (SEPTA station)

North Broad
SEPTA regional rail
The former Reading Railroad North Broad station house on Broad Street.
Location	2601 North Broad Street near Lehigh Avenue Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Owned by	SEPTA
Line(s)	Lansdale/Doylestown Line   Manayunk/Norristown Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	Broad Street Line Local   Broad Street Line Ridge Spur SEPTA City Bus: 4, 16, 54
Construction
Parking	Street-side
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	C (Central Philadelphia)
History
Opened	1929
Electrified	1931
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station Temple University toward 30th Street Station Lansdale/Doylestown Line Wayne Junction toward Doylestown Manayunk/Norristown Line Allegheny toward Elm Street, Norristown
North Broad Street Station, Reading Company
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	2601 North Broad Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Coordinates	39°59′32.5″N 75°9′16″W / 39.992361°N 75.15444°WCoordinates: 39°59′32.5″N 75°9′16″W / 39.992361°N 75.15444°W
Architect	Horace Trumbauer; Irwin & Leighton
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP Reference #	96000325
Added to NRHP	March 28, 1996[1]

North Broad (known as North Broad Street until 1992) is a SEPTA Regional Rail station at 2601 North Broad Street (PA 611) south of Lehigh Avenue along the SEPTA Main Line, in the Cecil B. Moore section of Lower North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unlike most stations, such as Wayne Junction, only the Lansdale/Doylestown Line and Manayunk/Norristown Line serve this station, while most trains pass by the station. The station has low-level platforms on the outside tracks, with "mini-high" platforms for wheelchair and ADA accessibility.

North Broad Station is within a few blocks of the North Philadelphia SEPTA-Amtrak station (formerly belonging to the Pennsylvania Railroad), which serves Amtrak's Keystone Service and Northeast Regional and SEPTA's Trenton and Chestnut Hill West Lines, and the North Philadelphia subway station on SEPTA's Broad Street Line.

History

Signal bridge at Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue at the end of the platforms of North Broad station.

North Broad Street Station replaced an earlier Reading Railroad station, named Huntingdon Avenue, on the same site in 1929.^[2] The historic station building on Broad Street, closed and sold by the Reading in the early 1960s, is now in use by a different occupant and is sealed off from the platforms, although the name engraved on the building ("North Broad Street Station") remains.

The 1929 station featured two island platforms which served all four tracks, connected by an underground walkway to the station, street, and the Broad Street Subway's North Philadelphia Station. All of these platforms and passages were removed or backfilled in 1992 as part of SEPTA's RailWorks bridge replacement project, in order to increase train speeds and to rationalize the platform area needed down to current boarding levels. The minimalist modular platforms are made of treated wood, allowing for ease of maintenance and replacement.

Just across Broad Street to the west is the site of Baker Bowl, which was the home of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1887 through June 1938. The triangular building visible in the station photo here was originally a Ford Motor Company building, and, along with North Broad Street Station, appears in the background of many photos of Baker Bowl. It was later the factory for Botany 500 men's apparel, made by H. Daroff & Sons.

References

1. Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. Existing Railroad Stations in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

External links

Media related to North Broad (SEPTA station) at Wikimedia Commons

• SEPTA - North Broad Station
• Broad Street entrance from Google Maps Street View