PATCO Could Reopen “Ghost Station”

St. Paddy’s Day isn’t normally associated with scary stories, but today happens to be an exception! This week brought the news that PATCO was considering re-opening its Franklin Street subway station, which has commonly been called the “ghost station” both for its dimly-lit creepiness and the fact that it has been out of use since the late 1970s.

The dimly-lit eeriness of the Franklin Street subway station sits idle in this Philly.com file photo from 2009.

PATCO has entertained the idea of recommissioning the Franklin Street station for years, but the cost has always been a factor in their decision not to. In August, it was guestimated that it might cost $10 million to fit out the station in a modern way, including better lighting and signage as well as making the station handicap accessible. Just recently, a study by the Delaware River Port Authority ballparked that figure at more like $18.5 million, and that is considered to be a low estimate.

The station was opened in 1936 as the easternmost Philadelphia stop on the Camden-Philadelphia rail line owned by the Delaware River Joint Commission and operated by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co. Within a few years it was closed for disuse, but it reopened during World War II. It closed again after the war, and didn’t reopen until 1953 when the commuter rail line was extended from Eighth and Market Streets to 15th and Locust Streets. It then closed once more (because of low usage) and wasn’t reactivated until the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976, at which point PATCO had taken over the subway lines. At this time $1 million was spent to improve the station. It closed for the last time in 1979.

The station today is used only as a storage site, but with Franklin Square having undergone a tremendous surge in popularity, it could make sense for the “ghost station” to be opened once more. It remains to be seen what the city and PATCO will decide.