North Philadelphia
Wynnefield
Overbrook
University City
The 30th Street Station Suburban tracks and platforms are used by all SEPTA Regional Rail trains as an intermediate stop. Trains stop at one of 3 high-level island platforms for the six-track electrified line located along the northside of the art deco 30th Street Station building. Amtrak Keystone Service (and some Clocker Service) trains also stopped at these platforms when they originated and terminated at Suburban Station until 1988.
The station is oriented on an east-west axis, unlike the lower-level long-distance train platforms below street level that are oriented north-south. West of the station the tracks to the south immediately split off, with the middle platform for tracks 5 and 6 used by all trains to and from Trenton, the Airport, and Wawa (via the University City Station), while the outside two island platforms and four tracks (1, 2, 3, and 4) are used by trains to Trenton and Chestnut Hill West normally on the middle set of tracks 2 and 3, and trains on the Main Line to Paoli and Thorndale on the very outside tracks 3 and 4. There are switches between these tracks at the Zoo interlocking north of the station, whey they also intersect at flying junctions the tracks to and from the lower-level of 30th Street Station.
East of the station are major switches where the tracks condense further, from six tracks into four as they cross the Schuylkill River and into the tunnel to Suburban Station in Center City Philadelphia.
The platforms are mostly-fully canopied with a trainshed-like roof containing skylights over the catenary wires over each of the tracks. Narrow pillars on the platforms hold up the roof giving the station an airy, but not column-less feel. A set of escalators, followed by an elevator and then a staircase lead down the SEPTA Regional Rail concourse below, and connections to Amtrak and NJ Transit trains on the lower level via the Main Station below.
Since 2018 the platforms have been a fare paid area, with a main bank of turnstiles in the station below leading up to a little waiting room around the escalator entrances. The elevators each have their own individual faregates on the concourse level, while the staircases each lead up to their own fenced off bank of faregates directly on each platform. There are TVMs on the platform to allow passengers to purchase SEPTA Quick Trip Tickets to leave the station who didn’t have a chance to purchase a ticket on the train.
Photos 1-5: March 27, 2013; 6: April 10, 2013; 7-13: July 21, 2014; 14-21: September 1, 2024; 22-32: September 4, 2024;
