The 40th Street Portal, also known as simply 40th Street station, is a SEPTA Subway-Surface Lines trolley station in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. At this station's portal, four of the five Subway-Surface Lines enter the Woodland Avenue subway tunnel after running on the street in

Southwest Philadelphia Southwest Philadelphia (formerly Kingsessing Township) is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The section can be described as extending from the western side of the Schuylkill River to the city line, with the SEPTA. The nort ...

and nearby suburbs. Eastbound trolleys run in the tunnel under the nearby campuses of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

to Center City Philadelphia. Westbound trolleys travel to the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Eastwick and Angora and the Delaware County suburbs of Yeadon and Darby. The station is located above ground at the entrance to the tunnel in a plaza between Woodland Avenue and

Baltimore Avenue The Baltimore Pike was an auto trail connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Today, parts of the road are signed as U.S. Route 1 (US 1), US 13, and a small portion of Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41). A section of the road ...

at 40th Street, adjacent to The Woodlands. When the tunnel is closed, trolleys are re-routed along 42nd Street to terminate at the 40th Street station of the

Market–Frankford Line The Market–Frankford Line (MFL) (also called the Market–Frankford Subway–Elevated Line (MFSE), the Market–Frankford El (MFE), the El (), or the Blue Line) is one of three rapid transit lines in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it and the Broad ...

and do not serve this station.

History

The portal station was opened October 15, 1955 eastbound and westbound opened November 6, 1955 by the

Philadelphia Transportation Company The Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) was the main public transit operator in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1940 to 1968. A private company, PTC was the successor to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT), in operation since 19 ...

(PTC) as part of a larger project to move portions of the elevated Market Street Line and surface trolleys underground.Puckett, John L. and Mark Frazier Lloyd. , accessed May 31, 2020. The original project to bury the elevated tracks between 23rd to 46th streets was announced by the PTC's predecessor, the

Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company The Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) was the main public transit operator in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1940 to 1968. A private company, PTC was the successor to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT), in operation since 19 ...

(PRT), in the 1920s, but was delayed due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The PTC's revised project also included a new tunnel for trolleys underneath the campus of the

, continuing from the original western portal at 23rd and Market streets to two new portals, the other being at 36th and Ludlow Streets for Route 10. When constructed, the 40th Street Portal layout can out to a “T” shape (seen in the picture above) with 40th Street crossing directly in front of the mouth of the portal. This lack use of turning trolley around for emergencies and schedule adjustments and propose a danger for motorists who would often mistake the traffic light at the trolley portal mouth as Woodland Avenue and would sometimes turn into the subway tunnel causing delays. So in 1983, the configuration was revised and turnaround loop was constructed and 40th Street was removed from crossing directly in front. However, service to the vicinity of 40th Street, Woodland Avenue, and Baltimore Avenue has existed long before then. Routes 11, 13, and 36 operated from their current outer termini of Darby and Eastwick to Front Street in Center City beginning December 15, 1906.

Trolley Portal Gardens

In 2012, the

University City District University City is the easternmost portion of West Philadelphia, encompassing several Philadelphia universities. It is situated directly across the Schuylkill River from Center City. The University of Pennsylvania was instrumental in coining t ...

began a plan to overhaul the 40th street portal. The plan included replacing asphalt with green space and landscaping, benches, bike racks, new lighting, and a cafe fronting

. The University City District raised $2.1 million for the project. Groundbreaking was in December 2016, but construction did not start until June 2017. The 40th Street Trolley Portal Gardens officially opened to the public on September 27, 2018. In August 2021, the garden was cleared by University City District due to overgrowth obstructing visibility for trolley operators and attracting pests. The organization began replanting the garden in September 2021 with a new layout. File:40th Street Portal.jpg, New landscaping at the station in 2019 File:Trolley Portal Gardens - Pollinator Meadow.jpg, Walkway and pollinator garden in 2022

Station layout

References

External links

SEPTA – 40th Street Station (archived)Woodland Avenue side of the station from Google Maps Street ViewBaltimore Avenue side of the station from Google Maps Street ViewImages at NYCSubway.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:40th Street (SEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley station) SEPTA Subway–Surface Trolley Line stations Railway stations in Philadelphia Railway stations in the United States opened in 1955 1955 establishments in Pennsylvania SEPTA Rapid Transit stations located above ground