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Suburban Station is an underground project extended four of those tracks to the new Market East Station . The 17-story building above is also the core of the Penn Center office complex, and is known as One Penn Center. All SEPTA Regional Rail trains stop at this station, but the R6 Cynwyd line and a few of the limited express trains terminate on one of the stub-end tracks at this station. While most SEPTA trains continue through instead of terminating at this station, most trains change crews at this station, which is one reason that trains are scheduled to stop for 5 minutes at this station. The station has an extensive concourse level above track level. This concourse has SEPTA ticket offices, retail shops and restuarants, and access other SEPTA stations and to several Center City buildings. The connections include the Broad Street Line at the City Hall Station and the Market-Frankford Line and Subway-Surface Lines at the 15th Street station. As of 2005 , the concourse and track levels of the station are undergoing a major renovation which will increase retail space, install an improved HVAC system, and renovate and preserve the (mostly Art Deco ) finishes in the station. The Comcast Center , which will be built on the north side of its block, near Arch Street, will also add a "winter garden" on the south side, where the train tracks run several feet below, that will serve as a new main entrance to the station. HISTORY When the station opened, it was a stub-end terminal for Pennsylvania Railroad trains serving Center City Philadelphia, replacing the above-ground Broad Street Station in this function. The station's full name was originally Broad Street Suburban Station. One Penn Center served as the headquarters of the PRR from 1930 to 1957. Plans for a tunnel to link the Pennsylvania and Reading commuter lines were floated as early as the 1950s, but funding to seriously study the project did not start until the late 1960s. The project languished in the 1970s due to lack of funding for the construction until federal money was appropriated during Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo's time in office. Converting two terminal stations into two through stations would improve operational efficiency by avoiding the need for extra tracks and time to turn trains around for their return trips. |
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