Strafford station is a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

station located in the western suburbs of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

at Old Eagle School Road and Crestline Road, in Tredyffrin Township, and it is served by most

Paoli/Thorndale Line The Paoli/Thorndale Line, commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and Delaware County, Pennsylvan ...

trains. The ticket office at this station is open weekdays from 5:50 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., excluding holidays. There are 289 parking spaces at the station, including SEPTA permit parking in nearby lots. This station is 15.4 track miles from

Suburban Station Suburban Station is an Art Deco office building and underground commuter rail station in Penn Center in Philadelphia. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. The station is owned and operated by SEPTA and is one of the t ...

. In 2017, the average total weekday boardings at this station was 780, and the average total weekday alightings was 621.

History

From 1873 to 1883, the building served as the railway station for

Wayne, Pennsylvania Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the ...

. In 1883, the building was moved to its current location in Strafford, which was then called Eagle. The name was changed to Strafford in 1887. The landmark building was constructed in the " Eastlake" or "Stick" architectural style popular from 1855 to 1877. In 1911 the

Philadelphia and Western Railroad The Philadelphia and Western Railroad was a high-speed, third rail-equipped, commuter-hauling interurban electric railroad operating in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is now SEPTA, SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line, thoug ...

extended their Strafford Branch to the station; this line lasted until 1956. The train station was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1984. Beginning in the mid-20th century, multiple sources stated, without providing evidence, that Strafford Station was built for the 1876

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official wo ...

, variously saying that it was used as the Catalogue Building or Japanese Pavilion. No primary sources have been found to corroborate these claims, and in fact significant documentary and physical evidence suggests otherwise, including the station's architecture being similar in form to other Pennsylvania Railroad passenger stations of the 1870s including Wynnewood Station on the same line. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) restored the station between 1999 and 2002 after damage from a June, 1999 fire. Work included restoring the historic station building as well as the outbound shelter. The station was made accessible-compliant with ramps to the platforms. Mini-high-level platforms will be installed after the Amtrak Keystone Corridor project is complete.

Station layout

Strafford has two low-level

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

s with pathways connecting the platforms to the inner tracks.

References

External links

*
Station House from Google Maps Street View

Strafford Railroad Station
, Library of Congress {{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania, state=collapsed SEPTA Regional Rail stations Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Stations on the Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Railway stations in Chester County, Pennsylvania Railway stations in the United States opened in 1873 Relocated buildings and structures in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Chester County, Pennsylvania Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania