Somerset station (SEPTA)

Somerset station is an elevated rapid transit station on SEPTA's Market–Frankford Line, located at the intersection of Somerset Street, D Street, and Kensington Avenue in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is also served by SEPTA City Bus routes 3 and 54.

This article is about the SEPTA station in Philadelphia. For the MRT station in Singapore, see Somerset MRT station.

Somerset
SEPTA rapid transit station
Somerset station platform
Location	2800 Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39.9916°N 75.1222°W / 39.9916; -75.1222
Owned by	City of Philadelphia
Operated by	SEPTA
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	SEPTA City Bus: 3, 54, 89
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	November 5, 1922[1]
Rebuilt	1997[2]
Electrified	700 volts DC third rail
Services
Preceding station SEPTA Following station Huntingdon toward 69th Street Market–Frankford Line Allegheny toward Frankford
Location
Somerset Location within Philadelphia

History

Somserset is part of the Frankford Elevated section of the line, which began service on November 5, 1922.[1][3][4][5]

Between 1988 and 2003, SEPTA undertook a $493.3 million reconstruction of the 5.5-mile (8.9 km) Frankford Elevated.[5] Somerset station was completely rebuilt on the site of the original station; the project included new platforms, elevators, windscreens, and overpasses, and the station now meets ADA accessibility requirements.[5] The line had originally been built with track ballast and was replaced with precast sections of deck, allowing the station (and the entire line) to remain open throughout the project.[6]

In 2007, Philadelphia Weekly named intersection underneath the station as one of the top ten "drug corners" in the city.[7]

During the Market–Frankford's rush-hour skip-stop service pattern, Somerset was only served by "B" trains. This practice was discontinued on February 24, 2020.[8][9]

Station exterior as seen from Somerset Street

Station layout

Access to the station is at the southwest corner of Somerset Street and Kensington Avenue. There is also an exit-only staircase from the eastbound platform at the southeast corner of the intersection. West of the station, the tracks traverse a truss bridge over a Conrail freight line.

M	Mezzanine	Connection between platforms
P Platform level	Side platform with fare control
	Westbound	←      Market–Frankford Line toward 69th Street (Huntingdon)
	Eastbound	→      Market–Frankford Line toward Frankford (Allegheny) →
	Side platform
G	Street level	Station house, buses

References

1. "Market-Frankford Subway–Elevated Line". SEPTA. Archived from the original on March 28, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
2. "Frankford Elevated Rapid Rail Line". Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
3. Cox, Harold E. (1967). May, Jack (ed.). The Road from Upper Darby. The Story of the Market Street Subway-Elevated. New York, NY: Electric Railroaders' Association. p. 17. OCLC 54770701.
4. Hepp, John (2013). "Subways and Elevated Lines". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
5. Edward L. Woods, Jr.; Thomas A. Nuxoll (1999). "The Frankford Elevated Reconstruction Project" (PDF). American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
6. American Public Transportation Association (1996). "Success Under Fire--A Discussion of the SEPTA-Frankford Elevated Reconstruction Project (FERP)". National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
7. Volk, Steve (May 2, 2007). "Top 10 Drug Corners". Philadelphia Weekly. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
8. Ralph, Pat (February 24, 2020). "SEPTA service changes mark end of skip-stop service on Market-Frankford Line". PhillyVoice. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
9. "SEPTA to Improve Market-Frankford Line Service Levels" (Press release). SEPTA. February 13, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.

External links

• Media related to Somerset station (SEPTA) at Wikimedia Commons
• SEPTA – Somerset Station
• Images at NYCSubway.org
• Station entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Station exit from Google Maps Street View