30th Street station (SEPTA subway)

Trolley platform at 30th Street

30th Street station opened on November 6, 1955 by the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC),[2] built as a replacement for the elevated 32nd Street station that had opened in 1907 as part of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company's original Market Street subway–elevated line from 69th Street T.C. to 15th Street, which was elevated west of 23rd Street.[3][1]

The PRT announced a project to bury the elevated tracks between 23rd to 46th streets in the 1920s.[4] The tunnel from 23rd to 32nd streets was completed by 1933, but construction on the remaining segment was put on hiatus due to the Great Depression and World War II.[4] The PRT went bankrupt in 1939 and was reorganized as the PTC,[5] which began building the rest of the tunnel in 1947.[4]

The underground station is half a block southwest of 30th Street Station, the city's main intercity rail and commuter rail station. A tunnel previously connected the two stations, but was closed in the 1980s, reportedly due to safety concerns. Amtrak and SEPTA considered reopening the tunnel in the early 2000s, but the September 11 attacks ended those plans.[6]

In December 2018, SEPTA received a $15 million grant from the United States Department of Transportation to make significant improvements to the station.[7][8] The improvement project was projected to cost over $37 million, with remaining funds contributed by SEPTA's capital budget and the developer Brandywine Realty Trust,[7] which owns 3000-3020 Market Street directly above the subway station[9] and is planning the Schuylkill Yards megaproject. The project calls for improvements to the station's mezzanine, as well as reopening and renovating the underground concourse connecting the subway station with the main 30th Street Station building.[7] A second access point to the station at the corner of 31st and Market streets reopened in late 2019, which includes a staircase and new elevator.[10] The full project was expected to be completed in 2021, but as of July 2023, is ongoing.[8]

The 30th Street Station District, a proposed development plan, calls for the station house at the northwest corner of 30th and Market streets to be rebuilt.[11]

The station has a high-level island platform for Market–Frankford trains and two low-level side platforms for subway–surface trolleys.

G	Street level	Entrances/Exits, buses, 30th Street Station
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, connection between platforms
P Platform level	Side platform, doors open on the right
	Westbound	←      Subway–surface trolley lines toward West Philadelphia (33rd Street)
	Westbound	←      Market–Frankford Line toward 69th Street T.C. (34th Street)
	Island platform, doors open on the left
	Eastbound	→      Market–Frankford Line toward Frankford T.C. (15th Street) →
	Eastbound	→      Subway–surface trolley lines toward 13th Street (22nd Street) →
	Side platform, doors open on the right

In addition to rail services at 30th Street Station, the station is also served by numerous bus routes, including routes 9, 30, 31, 44, 49, 62, and LUCY operated by the SEPTA City Transit Division, as well as routes 124 and 125 operated by the SEPTA Suburban Division.

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  Market–Frankford line platform
• 
  Free transfer zone in 30th Street station
• 
  30th Street Trolley station
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  30th Street trolley station
• 
  Former 30th Street station entrance - this entrance is being renovated as part of the 30th Street Station District project.
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  Trolley car at inbound platform

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 30th Street station (SEPTA subway).

• SEPTA – 30th Street station
• Images at SubwayNut Archived 2020-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
• Images at NYCSubway.org
• 30th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 31st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View