High-speed rail could bypass 30th St | Uptown preservation grant | Jefferson Square cleanup | Fatality at Lombard-South

Will Philly’s future high-speed rail stations be at Market East and the airport, bypassing 30th Street Station? The Inquirer reports that because the current Northeast Corridor alignment poses problems for high-speed trains, rail planners are considering more expensive alternatives like an underground station at Market East linked to the airport by a 10-mile tunnel. It could be a transformational project, but the cost is estimated at $3 billion and advocates wonder if the route to 30th Street Station couldn’t be adapted more cheaply to handle the high-speed traffic? Federal Railroad Administration officials will hold an open house Monday at SEPTA’s headquarters (1234 Market) from 4:30-7:30pm to discuss these ideas. “There’s no city on the corridor that stands to gain as much from high-speed rail as Philadelphia,” said Amtrak’s Stephen Gardner.

The owners of the Uptown Theater on North Broad will announce a $30,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation today, reports the Daily News. The grant helps the Uptown Entertainment and Development Corp. chip away at its larger $5 million fundraising goal to fully restore the theater. Renovation of the Uptown’s office tower started last year and is expected to finish this fall.

Eight of Jefferson Square Park’s overgrown and weedy planting beds were cleaned up and prepared for new plants thanks to a volunteer team of incoming Jefferson med students, reports PHS on its blog.

A SEPTA train fatally struck a person at the Lombard-South stop this morning, suspending service on the Broad Street Line for a few hours. Service is back, but running with delays.

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