Center City Commuter Connection
Encyclopedia
The Center City Commuter Connection, commonly referred to as "the commuter tunnel", is a passenger railroad tunnel
in Center City, Philadelphia
, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad companies: the Pennsylvania Railroad
and the Reading Railroad. All of the SEPTA Regional Rail
lines except for the Cynwyd Line
pass completely through the four-track tunnel, which contains two underground stations - Suburban Station
and Market East Station
, and the above-ground upper-level concourse for the east-west commuter lines serving 30th Street Station
.
(PRR). The Reading Company
(RDG) ran trains on an elevated approach above city streets into the Reading Terminal
, located at 12th and Market Streets (one block west of where Market East Station
was built). The connection, the first of its kind in the United States, was built to allow trains to run through Philadelphia's downtown central business district, by uniting the commuter lines of the two rail systems.
R. Damon Childs (1929(?)-1998, University of Pennsylvania
School of Architecture 1953, Graduate School of Architecture 1957), was a 28-year-old junior land planner with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission when he proposed the Connection to permit through-routing of the Pennsylvania Railroad
and the Reading Railroad suburban lines. There already was a 0.8-mile (1.3 km) subway from 16th Street to 20th Street, a portion of the trackage connecting Suburban Station with 30th Street Station to the west. The tunnel project extended four of Suburban Station's eight tracks 1.7 miles (2.7 km) eastward. The proposed tunnel addition would pass just north of City Hall and then pass over the Broad Street Subway. The tracks would run under Filbert Street, would then curve to the north after 11th Street, pass under the Ridge Avenue Subway spur line, and run northward under 9th Street, ascending to join the Reading embankment near Spring Garden Street. Underground replacement for Reading Terminal—originally to be called 11th Street Station—was part of the renewal of Market East
. At first the idea seemed preposterous because it required excavation under Philadelphia City Hall
, one of the most massive buildings in the world, but it was nevertheless incorporated by Edmund N. Bacon into the city's 1960 Comprehensive Plan.
Groundbreaking for the tunnel project was on June 22, 1978. It took six years to complete at a cost of $330 million. Federal funds paid for 80 percent of the project, state funds accounted for 16.66 percent of its cost, and city funds covered the remaining 3.33 percent. On April 28, 1984, a free shuttle service began operating between Suburban Station
and Market East Station
. Trains on the former PRR lines began providing service through the connection to and from Market East on September 3, 1984. The last train from Reading Terminal
departed on November 6, 1984. After allowing for final track connections to be made, trains from the former Reading Railroad began using the tunnel on November 10, 1984. The Center City Commuter Connection, the four-track (two tracks in both directions) standard-gauge rail link between Suburban Station and the new Market East Station, formally opened for business on November 12, 1984. The old approach to Reading Terminal
was then abandoned. It is still mostly present, and is now known as the Reading Viaduct
.
DVARP later characterized the termination of the diesels as "SEPTA's worst railroad mistake." The end of diesel service resulted in over 150 route miles lost, much of it through regions whose populations exploded throughout the 1980s and 1990s such as the Allentown-Bethlehem area in Lehigh and Northampton Counties, which is actually outside of SEPTA's operating territory, but trains ran there until June 30, 1981 operated by Conrail under contract with SEPTA. Trains ran to Allentown from June, 1978 to September, 1979. There are plans to restore service to Shelly, north of Quakertown, possibly by a private operator. Tracks were removed and row cleared between Springfield St. overpass in Bucks County south of Coopersburg to Hellertown for a trail, but SEPTA reserves the right to rebuild track in the future.
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
in Center City, Philadelphia
Center City, Philadelphia
Center City, or Downtown Philadelphia includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2005, its population of over 88,000 made it the third most populous downtown in the United States, after New York City's and Chicago's...
, Pennsylvania, United States, built to connect the stub ends of the two separate regional commuter rail systems, originally operated by two rival railroad companies: the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
and the Reading Railroad. All of the SEPTA Regional Rail
SEPTA Regional Rail
The SEPTA Regional Rail system consists of commuter rail service on thirteen branches to over 150 active stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and its suburbs. Service on most lines runs from 5:30 AM to midnight...
lines except for the Cynwyd Line
Cynwyd Line
The Cynwyd Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Cynwyd in Montgomery County.Originally known as the Ivy Ridge Branch, service was truncated on October 25, 1986 from Ivy Ridge to its current terminus at Cynwyd....
pass completely through the four-track tunnel, which contains two underground stations - Suburban Station
Suburban Station (Philadelphia)
Suburban Station is an underground, art deco, commuter rail station in the Penn Center district of Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. The station is operated by SEPTA and is one of the three core Center City stations on the SEPTA...
and Market East Station
Market East Station (Philadelphia)
Market East Station is an underground SEPTA Regional Rail station located in the Market East neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 12th and Filbert streets...
, and the above-ground upper-level concourse for the east-west commuter lines serving 30th Street Station
30th Street Station
30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the five stations in SEPTA's Center City fare zone. It is also a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridors...
.
Planning and Development
Suburban Station, located at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard, was the underground terminus of the commuter rail lines of the Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(PRR). The Reading Company
Reading Company
The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
(RDG) ran trains on an elevated approach above city streets into the Reading Terminal
Reading Terminal
The Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
, located at 12th and Market Streets (one block west of where Market East Station
Market East Station (Philadelphia)
Market East Station is an underground SEPTA Regional Rail station located in the Market East neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 12th and Filbert streets...
was built). The connection, the first of its kind in the United States, was built to allow trains to run through Philadelphia's downtown central business district, by uniting the commuter lines of the two rail systems.
R. Damon Childs (1929(?)-1998, University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
School of Architecture 1953, Graduate School of Architecture 1957), was a 28-year-old junior land planner with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission when he proposed the Connection to permit through-routing of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
and the Reading Railroad suburban lines. There already was a 0.8-mile (1.3 km) subway from 16th Street to 20th Street, a portion of the trackage connecting Suburban Station with 30th Street Station to the west. The tunnel project extended four of Suburban Station's eight tracks 1.7 miles (2.7 km) eastward. The proposed tunnel addition would pass just north of City Hall and then pass over the Broad Street Subway. The tracks would run under Filbert Street, would then curve to the north after 11th Street, pass under the Ridge Avenue Subway spur line, and run northward under 9th Street, ascending to join the Reading embankment near Spring Garden Street. Underground replacement for Reading Terminal—originally to be called 11th Street Station—was part of the renewal of Market East
Market East, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Market East is part of the downtown district known as Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Market East corresponds to the area along Market Street between Arch Street to the north, Chestnut Street to the south, Juniper Street to the west, and 6th Street to the east...
. At first the idea seemed preposterous because it required excavation under Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall is the house of government for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At , including the statue, it is the world's second-tallest masonry building, only shorter than Mole Antonelliana in Turin...
, one of the most massive buildings in the world, but it was nevertheless incorporated by Edmund N. Bacon into the city's 1960 Comprehensive Plan.
Groundbreaking for the tunnel project was on June 22, 1978. It took six years to complete at a cost of $330 million. Federal funds paid for 80 percent of the project, state funds accounted for 16.66 percent of its cost, and city funds covered the remaining 3.33 percent. On April 28, 1984, a free shuttle service began operating between Suburban Station
Suburban Station (Philadelphia)
Suburban Station is an underground, art deco, commuter rail station in the Penn Center district of Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. The station is operated by SEPTA and is one of the three core Center City stations on the SEPTA...
and Market East Station
Market East Station (Philadelphia)
Market East Station is an underground SEPTA Regional Rail station located in the Market East neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 12th and Filbert streets...
. Trains on the former PRR lines began providing service through the connection to and from Market East on September 3, 1984. The last train from Reading Terminal
Reading Terminal
The Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
departed on November 6, 1984. After allowing for final track connections to be made, trains from the former Reading Railroad began using the tunnel on November 10, 1984. The Center City Commuter Connection, the four-track (two tracks in both directions) standard-gauge rail link between Suburban Station and the new Market East Station, formally opened for business on November 12, 1984. The old approach to Reading Terminal
Reading Terminal
The Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
was then abandoned. It is still mostly present, and is now known as the Reading Viaduct
Reading Viaduct
The Reading Viaduct is the common name for an abandoned railroad viaduct in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formerly owned by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway...
.
Criticism
The opening of the tunnel spelled the permanent end of SEPTA's diesel routes. Though all diesel service ended in January 1983 (Newtown), Bethlehem (June 30, 1981), Newark (July 30, 1981) and Reading (Fall 1981), the design of the then-future tunnel omitted the inclusion of ventilation fans to disperse diesel exhaust fumes. The Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers (DVARP) advocated for the inclusion of fans that would allow diesel trains to return at a point in the future. SEPTA refused this option throughout the entire planning and construction process.DVARP later characterized the termination of the diesels as "SEPTA's worst railroad mistake." The end of diesel service resulted in over 150 route miles lost, much of it through regions whose populations exploded throughout the 1980s and 1990s such as the Allentown-Bethlehem area in Lehigh and Northampton Counties, which is actually outside of SEPTA's operating territory, but trains ran there until June 30, 1981 operated by Conrail under contract with SEPTA. Trains ran to Allentown from June, 1978 to September, 1979. There are plans to restore service to Shelly, north of Quakertown, possibly by a private operator. Tracks were removed and row cleared between Springfield St. overpass in Bucks County south of Coopersburg to Hellertown for a trail, but SEPTA reserves the right to rebuild track in the future.
See also
- SEPTA Regional RailSEPTA Regional RailThe SEPTA Regional Rail system consists of commuter rail service on thirteen branches to over 150 active stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and its suburbs. Service on most lines runs from 5:30 AM to midnight...
- Reading TerminalReading TerminalThe Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings located in the Market East section of Center City in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
- Market East Station
- Suburban Station
- 30th Street Station30th Street Station30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the five stations in SEPTA's Center City fare zone. It is also a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridors...