Berks station is an elevated rapid transit station on the

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...

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 ...

, located at the corner of

Front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

and Berks streets in the Kensington neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The station is also served by SEPTA bus route 3.

History

Berks is part of the Frankford Elevated section of the line, which began service on November 5, 1922. PA055066wiki

Between 1988 and 2003, SEPTA undertook a $493.3 million reconstruction of the Frankford Elevated. Berks station was completely rebuilt on the site of the original station; the project included new platforms, elevators, windscreens, and overpasses, and the station now meets ADA accessibility requirements. The line had originally been built with

track ballast Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railroad ties (sleepers) are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to bear the load from the railroad ties, to facilitate drainage of water, and also to keep down veget ...

and was replaced with precast sections of

slab track A ballastless track or slab track is a type of railway track infrastructure in which the traditional elastic combination of ties/sleepers and ballast is replaced by a rigid construction of concrete or asphalt. Characteristics In ballastless ...

, allowing the station (and the entire line) to remain open throughout the project. During the Market–Frankford's rush-hour

skip-stop Skip-stop is a public transit service pattern which reduces travel times and increases capacity by having vehicles ''skip'' certain ''stops'' along a route. Originating in rapid transit systems, skip-stop may be also used in light rail and bus ...

service pattern, Berks was only served by "A" trains . This practice was discontinued on February 24, 2020.

Station layout

The station has two tracks and two side platforms. Access to and from the station is via the southwest corner of Berks & Front streets. There is also an exit-only staircase from the eastbound platform to the east side of Front Street.

In popular culture

In the film

Maximum Risk ''Maximum Risk'' is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam in his American directorial debut, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Natasha Henstridge. The film was released in the United States on Septembe ...

, the station served as a stand-in for the New York City Subway Brighton Beach Station.

References

External links

*
SEPTA – Berks StationImages at NYCSubway.orgStation entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{SEPTA Rapid Transit Stations SEPTA Market-Frankford Line stations Railway stations in Philadelphia Railway stations in the United States opened in 1922 SEPTA Rapid Transit stations located above ground