University City station

University City
SEPTA Regional Rail station
Location South Street & Convention Avenue
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Coordinates 39°56′52″N 75°11′25″W / 39.94784°N 75.19034°W / 39.94784; -75.19034Coordinates: 39°56′52″N 75°11′25″W / 39.94784°N 75.19034°W / 39.94784; -75.19034
Owned by SEPTA
Line(s) Media/Elwyn Line
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking No
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone C
History
Opened 1995
Electrified Yes
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station
toward Airport
Airport Line
toward Elwyn
Media/Elwyn Line
toward Newark
Wilmington/​Newark Line
TerminusWarminster Line
toward Warminster
West Trenton Line
toward West Trenton

University City station is a train station in the University City section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the SEPTA Regional Rail system. The station serves the area around the University of Pennsylvania, and is located at South Street and Convention Avenue. Located on the Media/Elwyn Line, it serves the Airport, Wilmington/Newark, Media/Elwyn, Warminster, and West Trenton Regional Rail services. In 2013, this station saw 3091 boardings and 2950 alightings on an average weekday.[1]

The station is less than a block from the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field and the Palestra. In addition to the University of Pennsylvania campus, it is convenient to the medical campuses of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The Drexel University campus, and the Graduate Hospital campus and neighborhood across the Schuylkill River are also nearby and easily accessible.

History

University City station was conceived in 1979 by the City of Philadelphia as Civic Center, under which name it appeared (as "proposed") on SEPTA informational maps of the 1980s. That name was no longer relevant by the time construction began in 1991. The station instead opened with the regionally descriptive name of University City on April 24, 1995.[2]

The station has a blue and red color scheme, a nod to Penn's colors.

Routes served

Since its inception, the station has been a stop for all trains on the five SEPTA rail lines which pass through the station, including rush-hour express trains on the Wilmington/Newark and Media/Elwyn lines; thus it has an extremely high level of service at all times.[2] Even though not all lines serve it, University City is listed in timetables and other SEPTA literature as one of the five Center City Philadelphia (CCP) stations, and falls within the CCP/Zone 1 Regional Rail fare zone.

The station is also served by SEPTA bus route 40 which runs along South Street, and bus routes 30, 42 and the LUCY Green Loop from the nearby corner of Convention Avenue and Health Sciences Drive.

The station made a brief appearance in the movie Unbreakable as Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson) falls down the stairs to the platform. It is portrayed as a subway station with turnstiles in the movie, though in reality; the station had no turnstiles at the time of filming, as "Rotogate" turnstiles were installed at the Spruce St. entrance in May 2017 in preparation for SEPTA Key Deployment on Regional Rail. The Convention Avenue Entrance has regular height turnstiles and ADA Gates.

Station layout

University City has one high-level island platform serving both tracks.

G Street level Exit/entrance to South Street/Convention Avenue
P
Platform level		 Outbound ← Airport Line toward Airport (Eastwick)
← Media/Elwyn Line toward Elwyn (49th Street)
← Wilmington/Newark Line toward Marcus Hook, Wilmington or Newark (Darby)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Inbound Airport Line toward Temple University, Glenside or Warminster(30th Street) →
Media/Elwyn Line toward Temple University (30th Street) →
Wilmington/Newark Line toward Temple University (30th Street) →
Warminster Line toward Glenside or Warminster (30th Street) →
West Trenton Line toward West Trenton (30th Street) →

References

  1. ↑ "SEPTA (May 2014). Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Service Plan. p. 61" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2017-12-13.  (539 KB)
  2. 1 2 Rubin, Daniel (April 21, 1995). "University City Rail Station To Open Monday". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
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