If you’ve taken the PATCO High Speed line train between South Jersey and Philadelphia, you’ve seen it: Franklin Square station, a PATCO stop under 7th and Race Streets. The most you’ll see, though, is an empty platform and a lot of white and green tile. The station opened in 1936 as part of the Camden Bridge Line and closed after World War II because of low use. In 1976, it was refurbished and re-opened for the country’s bi-centennial since the station is close to Independence Mall. Then it closed again in 1979 because so few people used it.
And for good reason. Aside from its proximity to the Liberty Bell and Independence mall, Franklin Square wasn’t a place you’d want to go at night, or during the day for that matter.
The square is coming back to life, though, and was bustling when I visited on Monday morning. Children played on a new playground and carousel. Restaurateur Stephen Starr has opened a small restaurant on the square. Visitors passed through the park, either on their way to work or to visit the Constitution Center, which opened in 2003. Development in and around the square has made it a destination again.
But I wasn’t there to see the park. I was there to see Franklin Square Station. It’s on track to be opened again, and I wanted to see what I call the “Ghost Station” as is before renovation starts in early 2010.
I felt a little like Alice going down the rabbit hole. The main entrance to Franklin Square Station is under a slab of concrete. To enter, you climb through a bright yellow door (escorted by PATCO staff, of course) and down make shift steps that eventually match up to the original stairs. Once you’re in the station? Florescent lights, dirt and a lot of burnt orange structures, which were added in 1976 and look garish next to the art deco tile throughout the station.
There are no ticketing systems, no station office, no turnstiles, just a lot of empty, dirty space.
Re-opening the station isn’t as easy as power washing the walls, says Bob Box, general manager of PATCO. They need to create a new entrance way, evaluate traffic patterns (there’s another covered entrance on the other side of the park), make the station ADA accessible, which includes adding an elevator, install ticketing systems, and consider security options. It might close at midnight every night, like the 9th and Locust Street station, says Box, who estimates that when re-opened, the station will serve 500 users a day.
“We don’t get a lot of city users,” Box said as he stood on the empty platform, signaling to passing trains that, yes, there were people in the station and they were supposed to be there. The hope is that the re-opened station will not only bring more people from the Jersey side to Franklin Square, but Philadelphians, too, who can use is as an easy way to get to the square and beyond.
I don’t agree with everything the DRPA, which runs PATCO, does, but I can get behind this re-opening. It will give easier access to parts of the city, encourage more visitors to Franklin Square and make commuting easier for a lot of people. I am all for it — as long as they get rid of the burnt orange.