Strafford station is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

station located in the western suburbs 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 ...

at Old Eagle School Road and Crestline Road, in Tredyffrin Township, and it is served by most

Paoli/Thorndale Line The Paoli/Thorndale Line, or R5 commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County and Delaware County to Thorndale in Chester County. It operates along the far east ...

trains. The ticket office at this station is open weekdays from 5:50 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., excluding holidays. There are 289 parking spaces at the station, including SEPTA permit parking in nearby lots. This station is 15.4 track miles from

Suburban Station Suburban Station is an art deco office building and underground commuter rail station in Penn Center, Philadelphia. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. The station is owned and operated by SEPTA and is one of the three ...

. In 2017, the average total weekday boardings at this station was 780, and the average total weekday alightings was 621.

History

From 1873 to 1883, the building served as the railway station for

Wayne, Pennsylvania Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the wealthiest areas ...

. In 1883, the building was moved to its current location in Strafford, which was then called Eagle. The name was changed to Strafford in 1887. The landmark building was constructed in the " Eastlake" or "Stick" architectural style popular from 1855 to 1877. In 1911 the

Philadelphia and Western Railroad The Philadelphia and Western Railroad was a high-speed, third rail-equipped, commuter-hauling interurban electric railroad operating in the western suburbs of the U.S. city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is now SEPTA's Norristown High Speed ...

extended their Strafford Branch to the station; this line lasted until 1956. The train station was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984. Rumors that the station had originally been one of the buildings used in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia are unfounded. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) restored the station between 1999 and 2002 after damage from a June, 1999 fire. Work included restoring the historic station building as well as the outbound shelter. The station was made ADA-compliant with ramps to the platforms. Mini-high-level platforms will be installed after the Amtrak Keystone Corridor project is complete.

Station layout

Strafford has two low-level

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s with pathways connecting the platforms to the inner tracks.

References

External links

Library of Congress: Images and data

Station House from Google Maps Street View
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania, state=collapsed SEPTA Regional Rail stations Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Railway stations in Chester County, Pennsylvania Railway stations in the United States opened in 1873 Relocated buildings and structures in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Chester County, Pennsylvania