Port Authority Transit Corporation
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Port Authority Transit Corporation operates the PATCO Speedline between Philadelphia, PA and Camden County, NJ in the United States. The Speedline crosses the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. PATCO and the Speedline are owned and controlled by the Delaware River Port Authority.
New Jersey Transit buses connect to most PATCO stations in New Jersey. The New Jersey Transit Atlantic City rail line also stops at Lindenwold Station, and the River LINE connects at Broadway Station (Walter Rand Transportation Center).
SEPTA's Market-Frankford line connects to PATCO at the 8th & Market Station, which is two blocks away from SEPTA's Market East Station, where all of SEPTA's regional trains stop.
The SEPTA Broad Street Subway's Walnut-Locust Street station is located a block away from PATCO's 12th-13th & Locust St. Station.
PATCO train operators are represented by Teamsters Local 676.
History
The Ben Franklin Bridge opened on July 1, 1926, with two outboard structures under the main roadway for rail (in addition to two never-used streetcar tracks on the main roadway). Construction of the rail line began on 1932, and opened on June 7, 1936. It was known as the Bridge Line and had four stations, 8th Street and Franklin Square in Philadelphia and City Hall and Broadway in Camden (connecting to the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines at Broadway). Service was soon extended north along the Broad-Ridge Spur and Broad Street Line from 8th Street to Girard station.
The Locust Street Subway was built from 8th Street to 18th Street in 1931, but tracks were not laid. It was planned in 1936 to extend west to 49th Street. The Locust Street Subway was finally completed, and trains first ran on February 10, 1952, as an extension of SEPTA's Broad-Ridge Spur, which now ends at PATCO's 8th and Market station. The last train ran from this line onto the Broad Street Line on August 23, 1968, and the line was reconfigured as a rerouting of the Bridge Line.[1] (http://world.nycsubway.org/us/phila/broadstreet.html) This section is still owned by SEPTA, and is leased by PATCO.[2] (http://www.drpa.org/publish/library/DRPA-04-125.pdf)
The rest of the line from Camden to Lindenwold opened on February 15, 1969 along former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines trackage.
Station list
| State | City | Station | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA | Philadelphia | 15-16th & Locust | |
| 12-13th & Locust | short walk to SEPTA Broad Street Line | ||
| 9-10th & Locust | |||
| 8th & Market | transfer to SEPTA Market-Frankford Line and Broad-Ridge Spur | ||
| Franklin Square | closed since 1976 | ||
| NJ | Camden | City Hall | |
| Broadway | transfer to New Jersey Transit River LINE | ||
| Ferry Avenue | |||
| Collingswood | Collingswood | ||
| Haddon Township | Westmont | ||
| Haddonfield | Haddonfield | ||
| Cherry Hill Township | Woodcrest | ||
| Voorhees Township | Ashland | ||
| Lindenwold | Lindenwold | transfer to New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line |
External links
- PATCO official website (http://drpa.org/patco/index.asp)
- NYCsubway.org - PATCO (http://world.nycsubway.org/us/phila/patco.html)
- Philadelphia Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society - PATCO (http://www.trainweb.org/phillynrhs/patco.html)