PATCO’s Franklin Square station finally has a reopening date

PATCO’s Franklin Square Station, closed since 1979, will reopen to passengers next month after a yearslong $30 million restoration.

Opening day will be April 3, according to PATCO officials.

» READ MORE: See inside PATCO’s ‘ghost’ station at Franklin Square

Franklin Square Station opened in 1936 but struggled to find ridership. It opened and closed several times throughout its history.

The transit agency told The Inquirer in 2023 that it hopes the new revamp will draw 1,300 to 1,500 daily riders. PATCO is banking on the influx of residents in nearby neighborhoods like Old City, where condos and apartments have risen in the decades since the last train opened its doors in Franklin Square.

It had been scheduled to begin serving passengers in the summer of 2024, but there were delays, caused in part by the discovery of old subterranean work that was not found on any blueprints the engineers were using, as well as some supply-chain issues.

Word circulated of a February grand opening, but the Delaware River Port Authority contractors ran into some last-minute complications, a situation familiar to people who have undertaken a home renovation project.

Crews had to integrate fire alarms, smoke detectors, and other safety systems with PATCO’s existing communications infrastructure. Elevators and escalators needed adjustments but are now working smoothly enough to schedule the grand opening, officials said. Now, workers are installing LCD displays to display real-time train information and advertisements, as well as strobe lights, white to alert train operators to slow and blue when workers are near the tracks.

Although the previous neon orange aesthetic has been updated with PATCO’s signature red, some vintage details will remain, including 1930s green-and-white tiles that spell out the station’s name.

Franklin Square Station is named for its adjacent 7.5-acre park, one of Philadelphia’s five original public squares set aside in the 1600s by William Penn. The park recently announced its own overhaul, a $7.8 million upgrade that will bring a new playground, a zip line, updated restrooms, and bike lanes.

» READ MORE: Franklin Square is getting a $7.8M upgrade with new playground, zip line, restrooms, and bike lanes

A stop on the commuter line between Camden and Philadelphia — then operated by Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co., now a part of SEPTA — Franklin Square Station closed several years after it was completed.

It reopened when the Delaware River waterfront was bustling during World War II. With the surrender of the Axis powers in 1945, it shut down again, only to be reactivated in 1953 when the commuter rail line was extended from Eighth and Market Streets to 15th and Locust Streets.

The rail line expanded more deeply into South Jersey, with the final station in Lindenwold. PATCO took over the expanded enterprise in February 1969, but Franklin Square Station did not figure into its immediate plans.

Franklin Square Station opened its doors again for the Bicentennial in 1976, but those festivities turned out to be disappointing as a tourist draw for visitors and it was mothballed.