19th Street station (SEPTA)


19th Street station is a subway station in Philadelphia. It is located underneath Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, and serves all routes of the SEPTA subway–surface trolley lines. The station was opened by the Philadelphia Transportation Company in 1907.
Touches of the original 1907 station, such as columns and railings, still remain. The station lies in the heart of Philadelphia's financial district, steps away from the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and two blocks north of Rittenhouse Square.

History

The station was built by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, and for the first two years formed part of a subway–surface trolley loop operating underground between and the Schuylkill River. In 1907, the Market Street subway–elevated line was completed from 15th Street to. The original line featured a bridge – located north of Market Street and south of Filbert Street – that carried both the subway and subway–surface lines over the Schuylkill River. The PRT bridge connected trolley lines in West Philadelphia to the underground subway–surface loop in Center City. 19th Street was originally the westernmost underground trolley station, as tracks rose up to an embankment west of the station to cross the PRT bridge.
The station originally served Routes 10, 11, 31, 34, 37 and 38. Route 31 was rerouted out of the tunnel in 1949 and buses replaced trolleys on routes 37 and 38 in 1955. Routes 13 and 36 began serving the station in 1956.

Modernization

Turnstiles were constructed on the westbound platform for the SEPTA Key fare collection system. As such, fares are paid prior to entering the turnstiles and not on the trolleys themselves as opposed to eastbound where riders must still pay upon entering the trolleys.

Station layout

Similar to 22nd Street station, the station has two low-level side platforms with a total of four tracks. The two inner tracks are used by Market–Frankford Line trains, which travel express between 15th Street and 30th Street.