Penn Medicine station

Penn Medicine station (formerly 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 West Chester Branch, it serves the Airport, Wilmington/Newark, Media/Wawa, Manayunk/Norristown, Warminster, and West Trenton Regional Rail services. In 2013, this station saw 3,091 boardings and 2,950 alightings on an average weekday.[5]

Penn Medicine
Penn Medicine station platform
General information
Location3149 Convention Boulevard
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates39°56′52″N 75°11′25″W
Owned bySoutheastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
Line(s)West Chester Branch
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport SEPTA City Bus: 30, 40, 42, 49, LUCY
Construction
Bicycle facilities10 rack spaces[1]
AccessibleYes[2]
Other information
Fare zoneCC[3]
History
Opened1995 (1995)
Previous namesUniversity City
Penn Medicine–University City
Passengers
20172,605 boardings, 2,518 alightings (weekday average)[4]
Rank5 of 146
Services
Preceding station SEPTA Following station
Eastwick
toward Airport
 Airport Line 30th Street Station
toward Glenside
49th Street
toward Wawa
 Media/Wawa Line 30th Street Station
toward Temple University
Darby
toward Newark
 Wilmington/​Newark Line
Terminus Manayunk/​Norristown Line 30th Street Station
toward Norristown–Elm Street
Warminster Line 30th Street Station
toward Warminster
West Trenton Line 30th Street Station
toward West Trenton

The station is less than a block from the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field and the Palestra. It is one block away from the medical campuses of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The rest of the University of Pennsylvania campus, Drexel University campus, and the Graduate Hospital campus and the 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.[6]

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

On January 27, 2020, SEPTA announced that the station would be renamed Penn Medicine Station after selling naming rights to Penn Medicine for $3.3 million in a 5-year deal.[7]

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/Wawa lines; thus it has a high level of service at all times.[6] Even though not all lines serve it, Penn Medicine is listed in timetables and other SEPTA literature as one of the five Center City Philadelphia (CCP) stations, and falls within the CCP Regional Rail fare zone.

The station is also served by SEPTA bus route 40 which runs along South Street, and bus routes 30, 42, 49, 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

Penn Medicine has one high-level island platform serving both tracks.

G Street level Entrance/exit, faregates, ticket machines, buses
P
Platform level		 Outbound ←      Airport Line toward Airport (Eastwick)
←      Media/Wawa Line toward Wawa (49th Street)
←      Wilmington/​Newark Line toward Newark (Darby)
Island platform, doors will open on the left Disabled access
Inbound →      Airport Line toward Temple University or Glenside (30th Street) →
→      Manayunk/​Norristown Line toward Norristown (30th Street) →
→      Media/Wawa 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. "Penn Medicine Station". Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  2. "Wilmington/Newark Line Timetable" (PDF). Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. April 16, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  3. "Fare Zone Map" (PDF). Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
  4. "Fiscal Year 2021 Service Plan Update". SEPTA. June 2020. p. 24. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  5. "SEPTA (May 2014). Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Service Plan. p. 61" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 12, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2017. (539 KB)
  6. Rubin, Daniel (April 21, 1995). "University City Rail Station To Open Monday". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  7. Madej, Patricia (January 27, 2020). "SEPTA's University City Station to become Penn Medicine Station in $3.3 million deal". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 27, 2020.

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