City Hall station (SEPTA)

This article is about the SEPTA station in Philadelphia. For other City Hall stations, see City Hall station (disambiguation).

City Hall station is a SEPTA subway station in Philadelphia. Located in Center City underneath City Hall, it serves the Broad Street Line. It is the busiest station on the line, serving 57,000 passengers daily.^[2] City Hall station is served by local, express, and special "Sport Express" trains. Entrances are located on the east and west sides of City Hall, as well as in the central courtyard. A free interchange also provides access to the Market–Frankford Line at 15th Street station, which is connected to City Hall by the Downtown Link underground concourse.

City Hall
City Hall station platform
General information
Location	Market Street between 15th and Broad Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	39°57′8.09″N 75°9′50.02″W
Owned by	City of Philadelphia
Operated by	SEPTA
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	(at 15th Street) (at 15th Street) Regional Rail (at Suburban Station) SEPTA City Bus: 4, 16, 17, 27, 31, 32, 33, 38, 44, 48 SEPTA Suburban Bus: 124, 125
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Accessible	Cross-platform transfers only, accessibility reconstruction underway[1]
History
Opened	September 1, 1928
Passengers
2007	57,000  0% (daily)
Services
Preceding station SEPTA Following station Walnut–Locust toward NRG Broad Street Line Local Race–Vine toward Fern Rock T.C. Walnut–Locust Terminus Broad Street Line Express
Future services (2024) Preceding station SEPTA Metro Following station Walnut–Locust toward NRG Race–Vine toward Fern Rock Walnut–Locust Terminus
Location

Interchanges

A free interchange is available between all of the subway lines here, including the 15th Street stop for the Market–Frankford Line and all SEPTA subway–surface trolley routes (routes 10, 11, 13, 34 & 36).

The station is connected to the Center City Concourse, a system of underground passageways, which connects to Suburban Station, which provides access to SEPTA Regional Rail. City Hall Station is also connected to the Broad Street Line's Walnut–Locust station, which in turn is connected to PATCO Speedline's 12–13th & Locust Station, and 15–16th & Locust Station.^[3] However, no free interchange is available to any of these stations. This is one of the two stops along the Broad Street subway not under Broad Street; the other one is Fern Rock Station.

Reconstruction

City Hall was an original station along the 1928 Broad Street Line and was not designed to be accessible to people with disabilities. In 2003, SEPTA rebuilt the station escalators at the connected 15th Street station on the Market–Frankford Line. A lawsuit was filed by the Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania, saying that because one critical component was renovated, the rest of the station complex needed to be renovated, as per building code requirements. As such, SEPTA would be required to make the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.^[4] SEPTA and the City of Philadelphia had been proposing a US $100 million refurbishment of City Hall station,^[5] which included structural repairs, improvements in lighting and ventilation, aesthetic improvements, as well as making it accessible to people with disabilities. However, the project's progression had stalled due to lack of funds.^[6]

In November 2011, the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation awarded construction contracts totaling $50 million for the restoration of the Dilworth Park above the station, following the eviction of the Occupy Philly protesters occupying the area; the contract includes making the park accessible to people with disabilities.^[7] SEPTA awarded construction contracts for the improvements in January 2012.^[8] The project consisted of a restoration of the plaza, creating a "gateway" to the SEPTA transit station and installing elevators connecting to the street and Market-Frankford platforms at 15th. The contract did not include any accessibility for the disabled to the Broad Street Line platforms, which are outside the plaza boundaries. The total cost of the project has risen to $55 million, with most of the money coming from a federal grant, with additional contributions by the City of Philadelphia ($5 million), and non-profit organizations including the William Penn Foundation. The project, originally to have been completed July 2014, had been delayed due to the necessity to deal with stairways, duct banks and pipes construction crews encountered, that did not appear in any blueprints.^[9] The renovated Dilworth Park opened on September 4, 2014.^[10]

In 2013, the passage of PA Act 89 (Transportation Funding Law) has allowed SEPTA to move forward with the $147 million BSL/MFL station renovation.^[11] The reconstruction of 15th Street station began in 2016, and was completed in 2018. Reconstruction of City Hall station began in 2019.^[12][13]

Gallery

• 
  Courtyard entrance
• 
  Station tile work
• 
  Southbound express track
• 
  A Broad Street Line local train bound for NRG station arriving at City Hall station
• 
  Station with train at platform
• 
  City Hall northbound platform
• 
  Another exit to the subway–surface trolleys
• 
  Former exit from City Hall station on the north side of City Hall
• 
  Northeast entrance
• 
  15th Street entrance is shared with City Hall station
• 
  Free transfer tunnel to the Market–Frankford Line

References

1. "SEPTA Planning" (PDF).
2. "Fiscal Year 2008 Capital Budget and Fiscal Years 2008–2019 Capital Program" (PDF). SEPTA. 2007-05-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
3. "Downtown Link Center City Concourse". SEPTA. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
4. "SEPTA riders getting City Hall elevators down to the el | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future". Archived from the original on 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
5. "SEPTA (July 2005) SEPTA Capital Improvements in the City of Philadelphia. p. 11" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-09. (1.96 MiB)
6. ""Philadelphia projects waiting for Harrisburg dollars"". Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
7. "Center City District / Central Philadelphia Development Corporation of Philadelphia: Dilworth Plaza". Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
8. "SEPTA awards contracts for City Hall improvements," by Anthony Campisi (PlanPhilly Thursday, January 26, 2012)
9. "Dilworth Plaza remake won't be finished until Labor Day". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 4, 2013.
10. "Dilworth Park, transformed into a beckoning public realm, officially opens".
11. "FY 2015 Capital Budget and FY 2015–2026 Capital Program Proposal" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-31. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
12. "SEPTA official: Central subway station makeover will take years".
13. "SEPTA Planning" (PDF).

External links

• SEPTA – City Hall station
• City Hall Broad Street Line station (WorldNYCSubway.org)