SEPTA reopens concourse that connects BSL and MFL after six years of annoying commutes

Six years after the underground South Broad Concourse was closed behind padlocked gates, SEPTA reopened the pedestrian passageway linking the 15th/City Hall and Walnut-Locust stations on Tuesday.

Opening up the 1,500-foot stretch of concourse was discussed during interagency planning meetings regarding World Cup soccer festivities as well as the Major League Baseball All-Star classic and celebrations of the nation’s 250th birthday.

The idea is to make moving around easier for visitors to the city, officials said.

In the summer of 2020, the transit authority began locking stairwells and erecting barriers in Center City pedestrian concourses between the Jefferson and Suburban Stations on Regional Rail

Frustrated riders found themselves trapped in the tunnels between locked gates.

According to transit officials, the pandemic-era closures were driven by low ridership, public safety concerns, and staffing issues that made it hard to keep the wide concourse clean.

SEPTA now has 700 cleaners, compared with about 200 the year before the pandemic, agency spokesperson Andrew Busch said. And after increased hiring, the Transit Police has about 200 officers, he said.

“The concourse will stay open after FIFA and everything else is over with, so we had to be comfortable that we were able to staff and maintain it,” Busch said.

The space is owned by the city, but SEPTA is responsible for its upkeep.

The transit agency will not allow sleeping or camping in the pedestrian corridor, Busch said.

Going forward, the South Broad Concourse will open a little before subway service starts every day and close after the final train leaves, SEPTA officials said.

The first eastbound and westbound Market-Frankford Line trains are scheduled to leave 15th Street/City Hall Station at 5 a.m. on weekdays. And the final trains are set to depart at 12.30 a.m., according to the timetable.