Philadelphia has had an on again, off again, on again, off again, on again, off again, on again relationship with transit access to Franklin Square. Opened as part of the 1936 Bridge Line between Center City and Camden, NJ, the Franklin Square station was built under Franklin Square at the east end of the 1926 Delaware River Bridge Ben Franklin Bridge. Closed in 1939 due to low ridership the station was briefly re-opened in 1952 when ferry service to Camden was concluded, only to close that same year. With the proximity to the new Independence Mall complex, the bicentennial celebration of 1976 triggered another re-opening, but after the celebration ridership plummeted again and the station was closed for the third time in 1979. Fifty years later, changing residential patterns along the Philadelphia waterfront prompted the Delaware River Port Authority to give Franklin Square another chance and after a protracted renovation project the station re-re-re opened on April 3rd, 2025. Of course I was going show up to get some photos of the new facility.
My plan had been to turn out for whatever opening day festivities that were going to take place, assuming of course that the station would open on a weekend, Friday or Monday. Unfortunately the opening was ultimately scheduled for the middle of a Thursday, making my attendance impractical from a scheduling point of view. Therefore I pushed my trip to the following Sunday. Here is PATCO car #1032 at Haddonfield, which would take me into the city.
Although far from perfect, PATCO has done a pretty good job preserving the 1930's tilework in its stations with Franklin Square leaning into this since it has more wall area than the other downtown stations that use island platforms.
The initial concept for Franklin Square was to pair the station to a major streetcar terminal similar to
Essex Street in New York City where streetcars would cross the bridge then link riders with Philly's high speed rapid transit system. Unfortunately the South Jersey streetcar network collapsed not long after the completion of the bridge, but the space for it still exists between the current PATCO tracks just east of Franklin Square.
A concourse passageway connects both platforms to the central headhouse via stairs and escalators.
The new glass headhouse took up the bulk of the $29 million restoration budget. It contrasts sharply with the other downtown stations which rely on compact stairways descending from the sidewalk.
The headhouse was built with all the modern features such as bird friendly glass and a green roof. It presents an interesting contrast with SEPTA's 1970's brutalist headhouse serving the Broad Ridge Spur's Chinatown station just a block away.
The split platforms are an outcome of not only the bridge approach, but also how the old Bridge Line featured a hidden flying junction with today's Broad Ridge Spur west of Franklin Square. PATCO even maintained an interlocked connection with the Ridge up unto the 1990s. The signals for that connection still remain and are visible from the west end of the eastbound platform.
One unfortunate anti-feature was the conversion of the eastern platform exits into emergency exits. The station itself is not very deep and the well vents let daylight down into the tunnel spaces.
