You really need a ticket now for platforms

[MACTRAXX]

dcipir and PB:

There is a way to tell if one looks at the floor in the southwest passageway where the staircases to
the Market Street Subway (as the directional signs read) once were - you can see the difference in
the stone work in how it was matched to the original.

CV: Good link showing the 30th Street southwest connection plan showing how elaborate that this
new connecting concourse will eventually be. Another large change will be the relocation of parking
away from the structure along with the driveways alongside the west entrance. This is looking to be
a long term construction project that will transform most of the perimeter around the building along
with better pedestrian access between all rail and transit modes present.

About SEPTA RRD gating: At 8:00 PM weekdays the station attendants go off duty and the gates are
opened for free access to the station platforms (6 PM Saturday, Sunday and major holidays) for all
riders. I give SEPTA credit for at least being open about the hours when gating at the CCP stations
is enforced. If and when gating hours get further extended I expect SEPTA to keep us informed...

MACTRAXX

[mcgrath618]

dcipir and PB:

There is a way to tell if one looks at the floor in the southwest passageway where the staircases to
the Market Street Subway (as the directional signs read) once were - you can see the difference in
the stone work in how it was matched to the original.

CV: Good link showing the 30th Street southwest connection plan showing how elaborate that this
new connecting concourse will eventually be. Another large change will be the relocation of parking
away from the structure along with the driveways alongside the west entrance. This is looking to be
a long term construction project that will transform most of the perimeter around the building along
with better pedestrian access between all rail and transit modes present.

About SEPTA RRD gating: At 8:00 PM weekdays the station attendants go off duty and the gates are
opened for free access to the station platforms (6 PM Saturday, Sunday and major holidays) for all
riders. I give SEPTA credit for at least being open about the hours when gating at the CCP stations
is enforced. If and when gating hours get further extended I expect SEPTA to keep us informed...

MACTRAXX

This will play off of the public square going up across the street very well. This whole area is really going to change in the coming years.

[ChesterValley]

For additional documentation, and a cute video: http://www.phillydistrict30.com/project-documents, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i33XSFd ... e=youtu.be.

I personally like the changes, I dislike dodging three lanes of cars to get to Drexel can be tiring. Especially with the construction SEPTA is doing on the 31st street El entrance. I am a bit amazed at the removal of the road around 30th, it looks like they are fully committing to a pedestrian walkway

[ExCon90]

You're not the first to incorrectly say that the entrance to the El concourse is where the pub is. The entrance is in the middle of the aisle in front of the pub, not in the pub.
Also that El concourse once upon a time continued east under the lower level tracks, and had stairs to each lower level Amtrak platform.

Interesting! I never knew that. I had heard that the concourse was under the pub on this board in other threads. So, it's in front? I'm trying to picture where—in the food court?

At the 30th St. Station concourse level there were (in line north to south, but I don't remember the sequence): a stairway, a down escalator, and an up escalator, all angling downward towards Market St., approximately where Bridgewater's outside tables are now. Once you got to the bottom, I can remember only a very dismal and dark corridor with nothing I would call a concourse in the SEPTA (actually PTC, then) subway station. I suspect that by the time it was closed off not many people wanted to go that way anyway.

[train2]

I actually don't know if the turstiles I saw on the platform go to either. I walked west on the platform to show a friend the Amtrak engine terminal. I only noticed them when we returned. They were new to me. I am hoping you can tell me, not ask me if the go XYZ, as I don't know where the go.

[andrewjw]

If you mean the turnstyles on the platforms, those are for the elevators and staircases on the west side of the SEPTA concourse. Because of the need for the Cira Centre pass-through, they can't have the bottom of the elevators be inside of fare control, so they put the top of the elevators outside of fair control, and put those turnstyles on the platforms. Those staircases and elevators are not new and just go to the same concourse as the main staircase/escalators.

[dcipjr]

Does anyone have any photographs of the closed North Concourse in 30th St. Station? It sounds like there's a good amount of space in there, but I've never seen any pictures of it, before or after the fire.

[ChrisinAbington]

Does anyone have any photographs of the closed North Concourse in 30th St. Station? It sounds like there's a good amount of space in there, but I've never seen any pictures of it, before or after the fire.

Not at all what you asked for, but I came across renderings of a potential refurbished North concourse:
https://app.insitevr.com/view/4Jx5I0oVZZ#3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I too would love to see pics of present day.

[glennk419]

This my be old news but thought I would mention it: As an infrequent rider I had not been on the platforms since the AEM7s were retired. This week I noticed a change. I was aware previously that during rush hour one needed a ticket to show to a gate attendant at the major stations during rush hour to reach the platforms. Now I have noticed SEPTA has installed fencing and pedestrian gates that need a ticket to scan, similar to subway systems, at 30th street and Suburban and likely Market as well. The difference these are in place 24 hours now. A smaller number of attendants are in place to assist, but being able to go to the platforms freely at 30th has ended.

It would be easy to buy a ticket and go up, but unless you have a pass it limits being able to change platforms as different trains come and go.

I have not yet used the new Key Card. When you swipe, does it actually deduct the amount of the fare from the card account or simply "open" the turnstile?

[MichaelBug]

On transit (Market-Frankford Line, Broad Street Line) Key deducts 2.00 from a rider's Travel Wallet (stored value) or, if loaded with a pass, one ride from the allotted 56 for weekly, or 244 (+ or - ) from a monthly pass.

On Regional Rail, at present, only Key cards with loaded passes are valid, so they merely unlock the turnstiles. The Key cards must be checked on board by a conductor's handheld validator.

Key cards with only a travel wallet balance (no pass loaded) are not currently valid on Regional Rail.

[JeffK]

Key cards with only a travel wallet balance (no pass loaded) are not currently valid on Regional Rail.

Implementation on the RRD seems to have ground to a halt, at least for now. You have to wonder whether they've found yet another "OOPS!" in the design that has to be kludged / patched / excused away before moving forward again. Beyond that, last I've heard they've even abandoned the idea of putting kiosks at most stations ... which of course means more people will be stuck paying the &^%$ on-board surcharge.

[glennk419]

I thought the surcharge only applied when boarding at a station with an open ticket office?

[pjabowling]

Septa seems to be more interested in getting the Key system to work for people with trailpasses loaded on their cards. Septa key employees waste hours each day checking for key cards or tickets at the Center City stations.

If you have a Key card with the travel wallet loaded there is no way to pay for a regional rail ride unless you purchase an Independence Pass which has a bunch of unnecessary restrictions.

[CNJGeep]

I thought the surcharge only applied when boarding at a station with an open ticket office?

No. Any ticket purchased on board, whether at a station with an open office or one that hasn't had an office in eighty years, will incur the "surcharge."

[JeffK]

I thought the surcharge only applied when boarding at a station with an open ticket office?

No. Any ticket purchased on board, whether at a station with an open office or one that hasn't had an office in eighty years, will incur the "surcharge."

I looked back through old articles; that policy was put into effect somewhere around 2007. SEPTA applied a tornado of spin by redefining the ticket-office price from being the standard fare to calling it a "prepurchased discount" fare. The on-board fare previously included a fixed $2 surcharge which SEPTA obfuscated by switching to a variable amount*, along with instructing conductors to tell riders that the increment "isn't a surcharge, just a higher fare" (???), a phrasing I've heard on numerous occasions.


* The increments appear to have been chosen solely to limit the amount of change conductors need to carry while bringing in more than a little "found money". Ticket-window fares are rounded up to the next highest dollar, then increased by yet another dollar. (Why? Because they can!) E.g. a $4.25 fare becomes $6.00 while a $6.75 fare rises to $8.00. I know of no other entity that uses this scheme.