Peachtree Center (MARTA station)

Peachtree Center MARTA rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address	216 Peachtree Street NE Atlanta, GA 30303
Coordinates	33.749161°N 84.394591°W / 33.749161; -84.394591
Lines	Red Line   Gold Line
Connections	CCT, GCT, GRTA
Structure	Underground
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Parking	None
Bicycle facilities	5 bike racks
Other information
Opened	September 11, 1982
Accessible
Code	N1
Breeze Card	Yes
Traffic
Passengers (2007)	7,900 (daily)  0%
Services
Preceding station   MARTA   Following station Five Points toward Airport Red Line Civic Center toward North Springs Gold Line Civic Center toward Doraville

Peachtree Center station is an underground train station on the Red and Gold lines of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail system. It is the deepest station in the MARTA rail system, at 120 feet (37 m) below Peachtree Street. It serves the Peachtree Center area of downtown Atlanta, and is the first station north-northeast of the rail system hub at Five Points. This is one of the busiest stations on the Red/Gold Lines handling over 15,000 people per weekday. The northeast entrance of this station is located in the lobby of the Peachtree Center Mall, and in the northwest entrance a United States Post Office is present, the closest proximity of any United States Post Office to the system.

It provides access to the Peachtree Center Business and Dining District, The Hard Rock Cafe, Hooters, The Westin Peacthree Plaza Hotel, Downtown Atlanta Hotel District, Georgia State University, SAE Institute, Rialto Center for the Performing Arts, Atlanta-Fulton County Library, Georgia-Pacific Building and Woodruff Park. At this time this station is no longer served by a MARTA bus connections, however it is continued to be served by GRTA Xpress Service to metro Atlanta, Cobb Xpress bus service and Gwinnett Transit Xpress bus.

The station has an island platform serving two tracks. The floor is made of gray tile, the "walls" are made of solid gneiss rock, and the ceiling panels are made of steel. Four escalator banks are used to access the station, with the Carnegie Way/Ellis Street (southwest) entrance having the longest escalators in the system, which MARTA claims are also the longest in the Southeast U.S.. The Ellis Street entrance is currently closed until further notice. The Harris Street (northwest) entrance has a map of the MARTA system with proposed lines on it. The station was featured in the 1985 movie The Heavenly Kid.

Nearby landmarks and popular destinations

• Peachtree Center/Peachtree Center Business District
• Mall at Peachtree Center
• Central Library
• Hard Rock Cafe
• American Cancer Society Center (formerly Inforum)
• Georgia Aquarium
• World of Coca-Cola
• Centennial Olympic Park
• Woodruff Park
• Rialto Center for the Performing Arts
• Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel
• Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel
• SAE Institute
• Various downtown Atlanta hotels

Bus routes

• Route 110 – Peachtree Street / "The Peach" (Rerouted due to Atlanta Street Car project)

[Bus route adjusted slightly, and Peachtree Center was not apart of the temporary reroute.]

Connection to other transit systems

• Cobb Community Transit
• Gwinnett County Transit
• Georgia Regional Transportation Authority

Construction

Although the operation of the North Line began between the Garnett and North Avenue stations on December 4, 1981, the Peachtree Center station between them did not open until September 11, 1982. A poster dating to 1982 on the station platform describes how the station was built. The poster reads:

MARTA's moving Atlanta, 120 feet below Peachtree Street.

The Peachtree Center station was built by tunneling through solid gneiss, a granite like rock formed of layers of quartz and mica. This rock provides underground support for the station. Soft ground or mixed tunneling was used where there was insufficient rock structure for underground support. With this method, compressed air twice the normal atmospheric pressure was used to support the walls while permanent structures were being built. Like deep sea divers, workers on this section of the rapid rail transit system were required to undergo 30 minutes of compression/decompression when entering or coming out of the tunnel. This station is only one of a few tunnels in the world where the walls and the ceiling were carved from solid rock.

Length of longest escalator serving the station entrance across from the Atlanta Public Library is 190 feet- the longest in the southeast. Cost of Station: approx. $45 million. Station depth: 120 feet. Station length: 900 feet.

The Design of the Peachtree Center Marta Station was done by the architectural firm of Toombs Amisano and Wells. Joseph Amisano being the last of the three original partners executed the design over the course of several years and was the major creative force behind the project.

Also the architect of the Peachtree Summit Building, located three blocks north of the station, Mr. Amisano left a legacy of structures following his death in 2008.

External Links

• MARTA Station Page
• nycsubway.org Atlanta page
• Carnegie Way entrance from Google Maps Street View