PATCO in Philadelphia becomes a city line with
four closely-spaced stops under Center City. The routes ends at a somewhat out-of-the-way
downtown location, the 15-16th St. terminal under Locust St. These
old city underground stations seem overbuilt, in a massive public
works sort of way.
This portion of the route has a fairly complex history. The Locust
St. Subway was constructed in the 1930s, and was originally
designed to be
part of the city system. It didn't open to traffic until
the early 1950s, and was indeed initially operated as an extension to today's Broad-Ridge Spur.
In connection with the Lindenwold extension opened in 1969, this stretch
was absorbed into that new line. A track connection to the Broad St.
spur line existed at
first, but it was long ago removed.
PATCO
crosses the Delaware on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, one of only three road/railroad suspension bridges in the country
that carry urban heavy rail. The rider gets some nice views
of Philadelphia and development along the river. |
