69th Street Transportation Center

69th Street Transportation Center
69th Street Transportation Center
	Market–Frankford's eastbound platform in March 2014
General information
Location	6901 Market Street; Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	39°57′47″N 75°15′36″W / 39.963076°N 75.259995°W
Owned by	SEPTA
Platforms	4 island platforms, 3 side platforms
Tracks	7
Connections	SEPTA City Bus: 21, 30, 65, 68; SEPTA Suburban Bus: 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 120, 123, 126;
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	182 spaces
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	March 4, 1907
Previous names	69th Street Terminal (1907–2011)
Services
Former services
Future services (2024)
Location
Location

The 69th Street Transportation Center (soon to be known as 69th Street Transit Center^[3]) is a SEPTA terminal in the Terminal Square section of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It serves the Market–Frankford Line, Norristown High Speed Line, Media–Sharon Hill Line, and multiple bus routes. It is located at the end of 69th Street, a major retail corridor in Upper Darby Township across Market Street (Route 3) from the Tower Theater. Until 2011, the station was primarily known as 69th Street Terminal.

69th Street is the second-busiest SEPTA transfer point, after its 15th Street/City Hall station, serving 35,000 passengers daily during the week.^[4]

History

20th century

69th Street Transportation Center
Great Hall

69th Street Transportation Center, shortly after opening in 1907

69th Street Transportation Center with an expanded foot bridge covering the right side in 2020

69th Street is one of the original Market Street Elevated stations built by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company; the line opened for service on March 4, 1907, running between the 69th Street and 15th Street stations.^[1]^[2] The same year, on May 22, the Philadelphia and Western Railroad opened the first segment of what is now the Norristown High-Speed Line, running from 69th Street to a farm on Sugartown Road in Strafford.^[5]^[6] By 1931, the P&W was operating Bullet electric multiple units between 69th Street and Norristown Transportation Center.

The Great Hall station house, which opened in 1907 with the Market Street Elevated, was a catalyst for nearby development in Upper Darby, considered to be one of the earliest examples of transit-oriented development.^[4]

The Media–Sharon Hill Line (routes 101 and 102) opened slightly earlier, having begun service to Sharon Hill in March 1906 and to Media in March 1913. The lines were operated by the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company.^[7]^[8]

In 1954, the Media, Sharon Hill, and Norristown lines were purchased by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (PSTC), also known as Red Arrow Lines. PSTC merged into SEPTA in 1970, unifying all services in the station under a single operator for the first time on January 29.^[9]

21st century

On February 2, 2016, SEPTA opened a new West Terminal at the station, serving multiple bus routes and the 101 and 102 trolley lines. The $19.6 million project brought new tracks and pavement, new platforms and ramps to the terminal building, as well as a green roof and eco-friendly LED lighting.^[10]

A train crash occurred here on August 23, 1986, injuring 44 and killing 1.^[11] On August 22, 2017, an inbound Norristown Line train crashed into an unoccupied train at the terminal, injuring 33.^[12]

Plans for a new parking garage, which would bring 318 additional parking spaces to the station, were announced in October 2018. The garage would be located above the South Terminal bus berths, is expected to cost $37 million, and will break ground in summer 2020.^[13] A 2019 report suggested removing the bridge across Market Street in favor of a traffic-calmed intersection with crosswalks.^[4]

Market–Frankford Line platforms

69th Street is the Market–Frankford Line's western terminus. East of here, the route travels thorough West and Center City Philadelphia along Market Street, and then continues northeast to Frankford Transportation Center. The station is one of two ground-level stations of the Market––Frankford Line, and one of two SEPTA rapid transit stations outside the Philadelphia city limits.

The station's three tracks and two platforms are located below ground at the center of the terminal, sandwiched between the station building and the Norristown High Speed Line terminal. The westbound platform (a single side platform on the right side of arriving trains) handles all alighting passengers who must exit here and leave the platform area, while the eastbound platform (an island platform between the 2 departure tracks) handles passengers arriving from the terminal upstairs. West of the station, a two-track balloon loop allows terminating trains to turn around and depart the station. There is also a large storage yard and a maintenance facility shared with the Media–Sharon Hill Line. Two MFL trains collided after one derailed on the balloon track seriously injuring the operator.^[11]

Norristown High Speed Line platforms

SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line (formerly Route 100) originates at 69th Street, continuing west and north to serve the communities of Haverford and Radnor before terminating at Norristown Transportation Center in Norristown. Unlike the Market–Frankford terminal, the Norristown Line tracks terminate at bumper blocks adjacent to the station, meaning that all platforms and tracks can handle both the boarding and alighting of passengers.

Bus and trolley routes

A terminating Route 101 trolley passing an outbound Route 107 bus

Surface transit lines at 69th Street are split into three distinct areas of the terminal. The largest of these areas is known as the West Terminal. It is located on a slightly elevated embankment west of the station house and adjacent to the intersection of Market Street and Victory Avenue. This area contains bus berths for routes 104, 109, 110, 111, 112, 120, 126, as well as two berths for the Media–Sharon Hill Line.^[14] The two trolley routes run southwest out of the station into the median of Terminal Square, and then via a separate right-of-way until diverging at Drexel Hill Junction. All bus routes at this terminal are operated by SEPTA's Suburban Division and operate west out of the station on West Chester Pike, State Road, or Garrett Road.

The station's South Terminal is adjacent to Market Street just east of 69th Street, also south of the terminal building. This area is located adjacent to the station's taxi stand and has berths for routes 21, 68, 107, 108, 113.^[14] Routes 21 and 68 are part of SEPTA's City Transit Division, while the remaining three are Suburban Division and former Red Arrow routes. These routes operate east into West Philadelphia on Market Street or south on 69th Street towards East Lansdowne.

The station's North Terminal handles the remaining six routes: 30, 65, 103, 105, 106, 123.^[14] It is located north of the station building and heavy rail platforms, adjacent to the Market–Frankford/Media–Sharon Hill maintenance facility building and SEPTA Victory District garage. These buses depart the station via a private access road to Cardington Road and proceed north through Cobbs Creek Park before turning east towards West Philadelphia or west to Lower Merion Township. Route 123 is the only exception as it splits from the rest of the lines and heads south on Victory Avenue and then west on West Chester Pike on its way to King of Prussia Mall.

Station layout

The station building also houses SEPTA sales offices, stores, and eateries. There is also a 182-space park and ride lot east of the station building on Market Street. Market–Frankford platforms are accessed via a mezzanine over the tracks that leads from the station house, the Norristown line platforms accessible directly from doors that lead into a small hallway that attaches to the Main Hall, while the Route 101/102 trolleys board on a loop at the western bus terminal. There are two tracks on the north side of the loop, but trolleys only use the outer track; the inner track, which is also paved with asphalt, is used for bus berths.