Ardmore (SEPTA and Amtrak station)

This article is about the station on the SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line and Amtrak Keystone Line. For the two interurban stations on the Norristown High Speed Line, see Ardmore Avenue (SEPTA station) and Ardmore Junction (SEPTA station).

Ardmore Amtrak station SEPTA Regional Rail commuter rail station
Station statistics
Address	Station Road and Lancaster Avenue Ardmore, PA 19003
Coordinates	40.0083°N 75.2903°W / 40.0083; -75.2903
Lines	Amtrak:   Keystone Service SEPTA:   Paoli/Thorndale Line
Connections	SEPTA City Bus: 44 SEPTA Suburban Bus: 103, 105, 106, 115
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Other information
Opened	1870
Rebuilt	1950s
Electrified	September 11, 1915
Code	ARD
Owned by	Amtrak
Traffic
Passengers (2011)	53,363  0.2%
Services
Preceding station   SEPTA   Following station Haverford toward Thorndale Paoli/Thorndale Line Wynnewood toward Temple University Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Paoli toward Harrisburg Keystone Service Philadelphia toward New York City

Ardmore Station is an above-ground commuter rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia at Anderson and Coulter Avenues in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. It is served by Amtrak Keystone Service trains, Pennsylvanian (westbound trains only), and most Paoli/Thorndale Line trains with the exception of several express runs.

The station is a one-story brick building with a flat roof built in the 1950s. It replaced an 1870 building that burned down. There are plans to build a new transit-oriented development in the area, and this would include a new station building.

The Station and Its Surroundings

The ticket office and waiting room at this station are open weekdays 6:10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. excluding holidays. An Amtrak QuikTrak machine is available when the station is open. SEPTA permit parking is available at the station, and the township provides additional metered parking in nearby lots.

This station is 8.5 track miles from Suburban Station. In 2003, the average total weekday SEPTA boardings at this station was 822.

Nearby attractions include the Suburban Square shopping center, Ardmore Farmers Market, Brownie's 23 East, and other businesses in the downtown Ardmore shopping district along Lancaster Avenue.

A popular place to eat, across the street from the station, is the Ardmore Station Cafe. Another popular place, Peace a Pizza, is also located across the street.

PRR era Ardmore train station sign.

Ardmore was the nearest station to the home of Stuart T. Saunders, the last CEO of both the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) until its 1968 merger with the New York Central and then of the Penn Central (PC) until its bankruptcy in 1976. Despite his proximity to the station, however, Saunders preferred to travel to his Philadelphia office by chauffeur-driven private car rather than riding his own trains. His detractors used this as an indication of both the inhospitable conditions of the train cars and management's detachment from the riding public.^{[citation needed]}

Ardmore Station (MP 8.5) on Amtrak's Keystone Corridor Philadelphia-Harrisburg "Main Line"

Ardmore Station Transit Oriented Development Project

Lower Merion Township has considered plans to replace the station as part of a larger economic revitalization "transit oriented development" (TOD) project for the neighborhood. Parts of the plan, however, relied on using eminent domain to force the purchase of private property, which would then be transferred to a private developer. For this reason, it met significant opposition among some members of community.

In 2008 the plan of developer Dranoff Properties for the TOD project was accepted and the Philadelphia based company was named to develop a $180 million mixed use project for the station area with ground breaking anticipated in 2012. In August, 2010, the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program of the State of Pennsylvania made a $9 million grant to the project following an earlier $6 million grant made in 2008.

Old Ardmore station

Ardmore station circa 1875

The old station at Ardmore was designed by the firm of Wilson Brothers and Company of Philadelphia as a two story stone structure with a slate roof. The walls were built of gneiss stone laid irregularly with sandstone lintels. It had a daylight basement by virtue of the land sloping to the rear, which served as housing for the agent, containing a bedroom, dining room, kitchen, and living room. The ground floor waiting room measured 20x35 feet, a ladies' room measuring 14x18 feet, a gentleman's smoking room 11x12 feet, a baggage room 8x12 feet, a telegraph office and ticket office of 9x18 feet, and a bedroom. The second story had three bedrooms and the signal tower.

External links

• Amtrak – Stations – Ardmore, PA
• SEPTA – Ardmore Station
• Ardmore Amtrak & SEPTA Station (USA RailGuide – TrainWeb)