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Franklin Street
BARTA bus terminal Former SEPTA regional rail station
Franklin Street building front, now a restaurant in 2024
General information
Location	Franklin Street and 7th Street Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	40°19′58″N 75°55′27″W / 40.3328802°N 75.9242991°W / 40.3328802; -75.9242991
Owned by	BARTA
Platforms	2 side platform
Tracks	2
Connections	BARTA buses: All at the BARTA Transportation Center
Construction
Structure type	Stone
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes
History
Closed	June 30, 1981
Rebuilt	February 8, 1929–February 25, 1930 2013
Electrified	No
Former services
Preceding station SEPTA Following station Leesporttoward Pottsville Pottsville Line Birdsborotoward Reading Terminal Preceding station Reading Railroad Following station Readingtoward Pottsville Main Line Neversinktoward Philadelphia ReadingTerminus Wilmington and Northern Branch Loranetoward Wilmington
Location

Franklin Street station is a former railroad and bus station in Reading, Pennsylvania. It currently is owned by Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority (BARTA) and hosts a brewpub restaurant operated by Saucony Creek Brewing Company.

Built by the Reading Railroad and dedicated on February 25, 1930, Franklin Street Station later served the SEPTA diesel service extending the Manayunk/Norristown Line to Pottsville. It closed when SEPTA cancelled the diesel service in 1981. BARTA acquired the building on December 14, 2005, and converted it into a bus depot in May 2013.

History

The Franklin Street station served the railroad from 1930 until 1981 when SEPTA diesel service ceased operations. Medium distance trains serving the station included the King Coal and Schuykill. From 1981 until 2013, the building sat vacant until BARTA acquired and refurbished the building for bus services. The plan was to alleviate overcrowded services at the BARTA Transportation Center located about a block away, as well as make an effort to preserve the historic station. Grants from federal, state and local sources funded the acquisition and rehabilitation costs. The purpose for the acquisition was to create a multi-use complex in which the rehabilitation/renovation of the existing Franklin Street Station building and site was an integral component of the overall development of a transportation facility in the area. Between September 2013 and January 2014 BARTA bus service to Lebanon was operated from the Station. Due to low ridership, the bus service was discontinued.

In July 2017 the station was used for a multimedia art exhibition entitled "This is Reading"

In June 2018, Saucony Creek Brewing Company leased the facility and opened a brewpub restaurant in July 2019.

There is a proposal to return SEPTA Regional Rail service to the station by way of an extension of the Manayunk/Norristown Line, providing passenger train service from Reading to Philadelphia. In 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation conducted a feasibility study on bringing passenger train service to Reading via Amtrak.

References

1. "Rail Service Marks End of an Era". The News Herald. Perkasie, Pennsylvania. July 29, 1981. p. 1. Retrieved February 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Contract Awarded for New Depot". The Reading Times. February 9, 1929. p. 7. Retrieved August 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "New Reading Station Dedicated Yesterday". The Evening News. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. February 26, 1930. p. 24. Retrieved August 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "From grim to grand: Franklin Street Station gleams again 2/20/2013".
5. 'Official Guide of the Railways,' June 1961, Reading Railroad section, Table 3
6. "Franklin Street in its heyday" (PDF).
7. "This is Reading". Lynn Nottage. 17 July 2017.
8. "Saucony Creek Brewery to open downtown Reading location". Reading Eagle. 22 July 2019.
9. Vasil, Jim (January 11, 2021). "Reading to Philly rail study shows idea gaining steam". Allentown, PA: WFMZ-TV. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
10. "Reading to Philadelphia Passenger Rail Analysis" (PDF). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. December 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2021.

v t e SEPTA Regional Rail stations
Airport	Terminals E & F Terminals C & D Terminal B Terminal A Eastwick Penn Medicine 30th Street Suburban Jefferson Temple University
Chestnut Hill East	Chestnut Hill East Gravers Wyndmoor Mount Airy Sedgwick Stenton Washington Lane Germantown Wister Wayne Junction Temple University Jefferson Suburban 30th Street
Chestnut Hill West	Chestnut Hill West Highland St. Martins Richard Allen Lane Carpenter Upsal Tulpehocken Chelten Avenue Queen Lane North Philadelphia 30th Street Suburban Jefferson Temple University
Cynwyd	Cynwyd Bala Wynnefield Avenue 30th Street Suburban
Fox Chase	Fox Chase Cheltenham Lawndale Olney Wayne Junction Temple University Jefferson Suburban 30th Street
Lansdale/Doylestown	Doylestown Delaware Valley University New Britain Chalfont Link Belt Colmar Fortuna 9th Street Lansdale Pennbrook North Wales Gwynedd Valley Penllyn Ambler Fort Washington Oreland North Hills Glenside Jenkintown–Wyncote Elkins Park Melrose Park Fern Rock Wayne Junction North Broad Temple University Jefferson Suburban 30th Street
Manayunk/Norristown	Elm Street Main Street Norristown Conshohocken Spring Mill Miquon Ivy Ridge Manayunk Wissahickon East Falls Allegheny North Broad Temple University Jefferson Suburban 30th Street Penn Medicine
Media/Wawa	Wawa Elwyn Media Moylan–Rose Valley Wallingford Swarthmore Morton Secane Primos Clifton–Aldan Gladstone Lansdowne Fernwood–Yeadon Angora 49th Street Penn Medicine 30th Street Suburban Jefferson Temple University
Paoli/Thorndale	Thorndale Downingtown Whitford Exton Malvern Paoli Daylesford Berwyn Devon Strafford Wayne St. Davids Radnor Villanova Rosemont Bryn Mawr Haverford Ardmore Wynnewood Narberth Merion Overbrook 30th Street Suburban Jefferson Temple University
Trenton	Trenton Levittown Bristol Croydon Eddington Cornwells Heights Torresdale Holmesburg Junction Tacony Bridesburg North Philadelphia 30th Street Suburban Jefferson Temple University
Warminster	Warminster Hatboro Willow Grove Crestmont Roslyn Ardsley Glenside Jenkintown–Wyncote Elkins Park Melrose Park Fern Rock Wayne Junction North Broad Temple University Jefferson Suburban 30th Street Penn Medicine
West Trenton	West Trenton Yardley Woodbourne Langhorne Neshaminy Falls Trevose Somerton Forest Hills Philmont Bethayres Meadowbrook Rydal Noble Jenkintown–Wyncote Elkins Park Melrose Park Fern Rock Wayne Junction Temple University Jefferson Suburban 30th Street Penn Medicine
Wilmington/Newark	Newark Churchmans Crossing Wilmington Claymont Marcus Hook Highland Avenue Chester Eddystone Crum Lynne Ridley Park Prospect Park Norwood Glenolden Folcroft Sharon Hill Curtis Park Darby Penn Medicine 30th Street Suburban Jefferson Temple University
Former stations	52nd Street Allentown Andalusia Auburn Baldwin Barmouth Belle Mead Bethlehem Birdsboro Bound Brook Bryn Athyn Center Valley Cheyney Churchville Coatesville Columbia Avenue County Line Crescentville Darlington DeKalb Street Fellwick Fishers Frankford Junction Franklin Street Fulmor George School Glen Mills Glen Riddle Hamburg Hellertown Holland Hopewell Huntingdon Valley Ivy Rock Lamokin Street Leesport Lenni Locksley Logan Manayunk West Mohrsville Mogees Newark Penn Newtown Nicetown Parkesburg Phoenixville Pottstown Pottsville Quakertown Reading Terminal Royersford Schuylkill Haven Shawmont Shoemakersville Southampton Spring Garden Street Tioga Valley Forge Walnut Hill West Chester West Chester University Westmoreland Westtown Williamson School Wissinoming

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• Former SEPTA Regional Rail stations
• Former Reading Company stations
• Former railway stations in Pennsylvania
• Transportation museums in Pennsylvania
• Museums in Reading, Pennsylvania
• Transportation buildings and structures in Berks County, Pennsylvania
• Bus stations in Pennsylvania
• Repurposed railway stations in the United States
• Railway stations in the United States closed in 1981
• SEPTA stubs
• Pennsylvania railway station stubs