Penn Medicine station (formerly University City station) is a

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

in the University City section of

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 ...

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, ...

on the

SEPTA Regional Rail The SEPTA Regional Rail system is a commuter rail network owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and serving the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. The system has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in Philadelphi ...

system. The station serves the area around 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 is located at South Street and Convention Avenue. Located on the

West Chester Branch The West Chester Branch is a railway line in southeastern Pennsylvania. At its fullest extent, it connected with the Philadelphia–Washington Main Line (Northeast Corridor) at Arsenal Junction near the University of Pennsylvania and the Philade ...

, it serves the

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

, Wilmington/Newark, Media/Wawa, Manayunk/Norristown,

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

, and West Trenton Regional Rail services. In 2013, this station saw 3,091 boardings and 2,950 alightings on an average weekday. The station is less than a block from the University of Pennsylvania's

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, track and fi ...

and the

Palestra The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 South ...

. It is one block away from the medical campuses of the

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is the flagship hospital of Penn Medicine and is located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. It is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the United States. Histor ...

and the

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a children's hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with its primary campus located in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia in the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The h ...

. The rest of the University of Pennsylvania campus,

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 ...

campus, and the

Graduate Hospital Southwest Center City (SWCC), also known as Graduate Hospital, is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia bordering Center City Philadelphia. The neighborhood is bordered on the north by South Street, on the south by Washington Avenue, on the west ...

campus and the neighborhood across the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

are also nearby and easily accessible.

History

University City station was conceived in 1979 by the City of Philadelphia as Civic Center, under which name it appeared (as "proposed") on SEPTA informational maps of the 1980s. That name was no longer relevant by the time construction began in 1991. The station instead opened with the regionally descriptive name of University City on April 24, 1995. The station has a blue and red color scheme, a nod to Penn's colors. On January 27, 2020, SEPTA announced that the station will be renamed Penn Medicine Station after selling naming rights to Penn Medicine for $3.3 million in a 5-year deal. The name change was immediately implemented on all online maps and schedules

http://www.septa.org/schedules/rail/w/AIR_0.html]), and is expected to be fully implemented by March 2020.

Routes served

Since its inception, the station has been a stop for all trains on the five SEPTA rail lines which pass through the station, including rush-hour express trains on the Wilmington/Newark and Media/Wawa lines; thus it has an extremely high level of service at all times. Even though not all lines serve it, Penn Medicine is listed in timetables and other SEPTA literature as one of the five Center City Philadelphia (CCP) stations, and falls within the CCP Regional Rail fare zone. The station is also served by SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes, SEPTA bus route 40 which runs along South Street, and bus routes 30, 42, 49, and the LUCY Green Loop from the nearby corner of Convention Avenue and Health Sciences Drive.

In popular culture

The station made a brief appearance in the movie ''

Unbreakable Unbreakable may refer to: * '' Unbreakable: My Story, My Way'', a book written by Jenni Rivera * Unbreakable (horse) (1935–1962), a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire Film and television * ''Unbreakable'' (film series), a trilogy directed by M ...

'' as Elijah (

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

) falls down the stairs to the platform. It is portrayed as a subway station with

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...

s in the movie, though in reality; the station had no turnstiles at the time of filming, as "Rotogate" turnstiles were installed at the Spruce St. entrance in May 2017 in preparation for

SEPTA Key The SEPTA Key card is a smart card that is used for automated fare collection on the SEPTA public transportation network in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. It can be used throughout SEPTA's transit system (bus, trolley, subway, high speed l ...

Deployment on

Regional Rail Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...

. The Convention Avenue entrance has regular height turnstiles and ADA gates.

Station layout

Penn Medicine has one high-level

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

serving both tracks.

Gallery

Penn_medicine_station_3.jpg, Station signage Penn medicine station 2.jpg, Station view from South Street Penn_medicine_station_1.jpg, Station entrance in 2020

References

External links

SEPTA - Penn Medicine StationStation House from Google Maps Street View
{{Authority control SEPTA Regional Rail stations Stations on the West Chester Line Railway stations in Philadelphia Railway stations in Pennsylvania at university and college campuses Railway stations in the United States opened in 1995 Wilmington/Newark Line