Work to reopen PATCO’s Franklin Square Station is reaching the end of the line

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Crews working to reopen PATCO’s Franklin Square Station are heading into the home stretch.

Construction is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks. The authority will then start integrating the station into its system, a process slated to take a few months.

The hope is to complete the $29 million project in early 2025.

“This is a project that we believe is going to serve a large number of customers, who may even be coming from the west to the east to the park and the attractions nearby. And we’re looking forward to being part of that community there,” said John Hanson, chief executive officer of the Delaware River Port Authority, which operates PATCO.

The station at 7th and Race streets will be the first stop in Philadelphia after trains cross the Ben Franklin Bridge. It sits a few blocks from the National Constitution Center and just a few blocks from Independence National Historical Park, home of the Liberty Bell.

The station dates back to the 1930s but hasn’t served riders in more than 40 years. PATCO reopened the stop in 1976 for the Bicentennial and closed it three years later, making it a “ghost station” where trains passed by but never stopped.

The idea to bring back the station surfaced roughly six years ago. Construction started two years later in 2020 and continued through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a high priority for our board. They felt it was important to keep pace with the growth that was already happening in that area and that this would likely stimulate even more growth in the area around Franklin Square,” Hanson said.

The station was originally slated to reopen this past spring. The timeline was delayed to early next year, primarily due to the challenges of integrating a nearly century-old station into PATCO’s existing operating systems, said spokesperson Mike Williams.

The most visible change is the large glass headhouse at the southwest corner of the park. This is where riders will enter and exit the station, though there will be a pair of emergency exits at the opposite end of the park. They will also be able to buy tickets and lock up their bikes.

Riders can access the platform by escalator or elevator.

“When you go down into the station itself, we have rehabilitated the entire station. However, it was important for us to keep the historical look down there. So we still have the original tiles from when the station was built,” said Michael Venuto, chief engineer for DRPA and PATCO.

The new stop will add about a minute to the system’s schedule. It takes about 30 minutes for trains to travel from 15th and Locust streets in Philadelphia to Lindenwold Station in New Jersey.