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Information AboutMarket East Station |
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The station is part of the "Gallery at Market East", a shopping mall built as part of an urban renewal project in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There are several entrances to the station, including several on the concourse level to the "Gallery II" part of the mall. After the Convention Center was opened, a new entrance was built in the Reading Terminal headhouse on Market Street. There are several monitors which show the status of the trains at these entrances, as well as near the ticket windows and at the tops of the escalators to the track level. At least one of the ticket windows, which are located on the concourse level, is open daily. The station extends under three city blocks and the platforms are along the northern edge of the blocks. The tracks here are the deepest ones in Philadelphia. There are two wide platforms and four tracks, each platform serving two tracks. Each platform can accommodate up to 12 railroad cars, but the longest trains SEPTA runs as of 2005 are 6 cars in length and the platforms are much longer than necessary for the typical 2 or 3 car train. Each platform is divided into an "A" section and a "B" section so that trains on different routes stop at different spots along the platform length. This allows waiting passengers to be dispersed along the platform rather than congregating in one spot. Architecturally, the design of Market East station is integrated with the Gallery mall. Stainless steel and large plate-glass windows are a major design element, with large color tile murals adorning the walls and the extensive use of tile for flooring. The only questionable items are the rather uncomfortable benches, which are square concrete blocks with a flat wood top, and no backs or armrests. The large windows are used both for exterior windows, where they admit light from street level down to track level like a clerestory, and for separating the concourse level from the track level. Because this is an underground station and the clerestory section is only a small part of the station, artificial lighting is used throughout the station. Overhead electric catenary wires supply power to the trains. Due to ventilation issues, diesel trains do not stop in the station, but sometimes a SEPTA diesel work train will go through the station without stopping. In this situation, the track must be clear through the tunnel before the diesel train is allowed through. To the west, the tracks have a set of cross-over tracks that allow trains to change tracks before the reach Suburban Station . To the east, there is a sharp curve north where trains are limited to about 20 to 25 mph, and then another set of cross-overs before climbing an incline of over 2.5% to Temple University Station . Market East Station is approximately 0.5 miles from Suburban Station . In 2004, the average total weekday boardings at this station was 10,950. |
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