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Wilmington, DE
Wilmington station in July 2014
General information
Other names	Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station
Location	100 South French Street Wilmington, Delaware United States
Coordinates	39°44′12″N 75°33′04″W / 39.736759°N 75.551093°W / 39.736759; -75.551093
Owned by	Amtrak
Line(s)	Amtrak Northeast Corridor
Platforms	2 side platforms, 1 island platform
Tracks	3
Connections	Amtrak Thruway DART First State: 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 33, 35, 37, 40, 42, 52, 301 Greyhound Lines
Construction
Parking	Paid parking nearby
Bicycle facilities	20 rack spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: WIL SEPTA: 90203
IATA code	ZWI
Fare zone	4 (SEPTA)
History
Opened	1908 (1908)
Rebuilt	2011
Electrified	1928 (toward Philadelphia) 1935 (toward Washington D.C)
Previous names	French Street Wilmington Pennsylvania Station
Passengers
FY 2023	625,373 (Amtrak)
2017	878 boardings, 632 alightings (weekday average) (SEPTA)
Rank	19 of 146 (SEPTA)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Baltimoretoward Washington, D.C. Acela Philadelphiatoward Boston South Vermonter Philadelphiatoward St. Albans Baltimoretoward Chicago Cardinal Philadelphiatoward New York Baltimoretoward Charlotte Carolinian Baltimoretoward New Orleans Crescent Baltimoretoward Savannah Palmetto Baltimoretoward Miami Silver Meteor Newark, Delawaretoward Norfolk, Newport News or Roanoke Northeast Regional Philadelphiatoward Boston South or Springfield Preceding station SEPTA Following station Churchmans Crossingtoward Newark Wilmington/​Newark Line Claymonttoward Temple University
Former services Preceding station Pennsylvania Railroad Following station Newporttoward Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Edge Moortoward Philadelphia Terminus Wilmington Line Edge Moortoward Suburban Station New Castletoward Cape Charles Delmarva Division Terminus Preceding station Amtrak Following station Newark, Delawaretoward Washington, D.C. Chesapeake Chestertoward Philadelphia–Suburban Baltimoretoward Washington, D.C. Federal Philadelphiatoward Boston South Aberdeentoward Tri-State Hilltopper Baltimoretoward Washington, D.C. Metroliner Philadelphiatoward New York Montrealer Philadelphiatoward Montreal Baltimoretoward Miami Silver Star Philadelphiatoward New York
Wilmington Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	2 buildings and 1 structure on 3.3 acres (1.3 ha)
Architect	Furness, Evans & Co.
Architectural style	Romanesque Revival
NRHP reference No.	76000581
Added to NRHP	November 21, 1976
Location

Wilmington station, also known as the Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station, is a passenger rail station in Wilmington, Delaware. It serves nine Amtrak train routes and is part of the Northeast Corridor. It also serves SEPTA Regional Rail commuter trains on the Wilmington/Newark Line as well as DART First State local buses and Greyhound Lines intercity buses.

Built in 1907 as Pennsylvania Station, the station was renamed in 2011 for then-Vice President (now President) Joe Biden, an advocate for passenger rail who routinely took the train from Wilmington to Washington, D.C. during his time as a Senator from 1973 to 2009. In 1987, Biden formally announced his ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination at this station. Located on Front Street between French and Walnut Streets in downtown Wilmington, the station has one inside level with stores, a cafe/newsstand, Amtrak and SEPTA ticket offices, a car rental office, and restrooms. Passengers board their trains on the second-story train platforms.

History

The station replaced an earlier station erected by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad.

It was built in 1907 for $300,000 by the PW&B successor, the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was designed by renowned architect Frank Furness, who also designed the adjacent Pennsylvania Railroad Building (which housed the offices for the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad) and the nearby Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Water Street Station. The Pennsylvania Railroad Building has since been renovated; as of 2014, it holds the offices of ING Direct United States.

Admired for his use of new and innovative materials and his forceful architectural statements, Furness chose to have the trains move right through the second floor of the station, with room for a ticketing and retail concourse at ground level underneath the tracks. This unconventional arrangement celebrated the power of the locomotive and America's industrial strength. The north end of the station has a four-faced rectangular clock tower that rises an extra story above the main roof. It is decorated with stone and terra cotta work that is repeated in plainer form throughout the station.

Wilmington Station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976. A renovation project was conducted in 1984. The National Register added the adjacent railroad viaduct in 1999. SEPTA has been running to Wilmington since 1989.

In 2009, the station began a two-year restoration; about two-thirds of the $37.7 million in funding came from United States government stimulus funds. During construction, customer operations, including platform access, were moved to a temporary station next door. The station reopened on December 6, 2010, and final work was completed in March 2011.

On March 19, 2011, the station's name was changed from Wilmington Station to Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station. The ceremony honored U.S. Vice President (now President) Joe Biden, who took over 7,000 round trips from the station to Washington, D.C. during his U.S. Senate career and was noted as an advocate for Amtrak and passenger rail more generally. On January 20, 2017, within an hour after completing his tenure as vice president, Biden boarded an Amtrak Acela train in Washington, D.C. bound for his namesake station.

The adjacent Wilmington Transit Center for DART First State bus service opened in May 2020. A $11.6 million renovation of the station, which included two new escalators, was completed in October 2023.

Services

Trains

The station is served by Amtrak Northeast Regional and Acela trains along the Northeast Corridor going south to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and going north to Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. It is also served by several long-distance trains including the Cardinal to Chicago, the Carolinian to Charlotte, the Crescent to New Orleans, the Palmetto to Savannah, the Silver Meteor to Miami, and the Vermonter to St. Albans, Vermont. Amtrak Thruway service is provided through the station to Dover, Delaware and Salisbury, Maryland via Greyhound Lines.

Despite being just 25 miles south of Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, the third-busiest Amtrak station in the country, Wilmington Station is a major Amtrak station in its own right. It is the seventh-busiest Amtrak station in the Mid-Atlantic region (behind New York Penn, Washington Union, 30th Street, Baltimore Penn, Albany-Rensselaer and BWI) and the 13th-busiest nationwide.

It is also served by SEPTA Regional Rail's Wilmington/Newark Line with service to Center City Philadelphia and Newark, Delaware. Like all stations in Delaware, SEPTA service is provided under contract and funded through DART First State, which also provides extensive local bus service as they have since 1994.

Intercity buses

Greyhound Lines intercity buses stop at the Wilmington Bus Station adjacent to the Wilmington station at 101 North French Street. The bus terminal is attached to the station's parking garage. Greyhound Lines provides direct, one-seat ride service from the bus terminal to various cities including Baltimore, New York City, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Washington, D.C.

Local transit

DART First State bus routes serving Wilmington station include 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 28, 33, 35, 37, 40, 52, 301, and 305 (seasonally). Most buses stop at the Wilmington Transit Center adjacent to the station.

The Wilmington Transit Center was built as a DART First State bus hub adjacent to Wilmington station. A groundbreaking ceremony for the transit center was held on November 19, 2018, with Governor John Carney, U.S. Senator Tom Carper, Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, DelDOT Secretary Jennifer Cohan, and DART First State CEO John Sisson in attendance. The Wilmington Transit Center serves most DART First State bus routes in Wilmington and includes a covered waiting area with seats, real-time bus displays, a ticket sales office, restrooms, vending machines, bicycle racks, and parking. Construction of the transit center cost $19 million and opened on May 17, 2020.

See also

• Wilmington and Western Railroad
• List of Delaware railroads
• Wilmington Rail Viaduct
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Wilmington, Delaware

References

1. ^ "Wilmington/Newark Line Timetable" (PDF). SEPTA. April 16, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
2. "Wilmington Station". SEPTA. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
3. "Electric Trains in Service on Pennsy". The Every Evening. Wilmington, Delaware. October 1, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved January 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "N.Y.-Washington Electric Train Service Starts Sunday on P.R.R." The Daily Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. February 9, 1935. p. 3. Retrieved January 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Delaware" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
6. "Fiscal Year 2021 Service Plan Update". SEPTA. June 2020. p. 24. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
7. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
8. ^ Travers, Karen (March 16, 2011). "'Amtrak Joe' Biden Gets His Own Train Station". ABC News. Archived from the original on March 19, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
9. ^ Great American Stations. Accessed March 8, 2013.
10. ^ Taylor, Adam (April 3, 2010), "Delaware transportation: For now, it's a headache on all sides of the tracks", The News Journal (Delawareonline), Wilmington: Gannett, archived from the original on November 4, 2012, retrieved December 9, 2010(subscription required)
11. New Castle County Listings at the National Register of Historic Places (Building – #76000581)
12. New Castle County Listings at the National Register of Historic Places (Structure – #99001276)
13. "Historic Wilmington Train Station Re-Opens" (PDF) (Press release). Amtrak. December 6, 2010. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
14. Bothum, Kelly (March 19, 2011). "Biden: 'I don't deserve' Amtrak station honor". The News Journal. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
15. Cherry, Amy (January 20, 2017). "VIDEO: Crowd cheers, chants 'Welcome Home Joe' for the homecoming of Delaware's own". Wilmington, DE: WDEL. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
16. "New DART bus hub opens near train station". Delaware Business Now. May 20, 2020.
17. "Amtrak Completes Wilmington Station Renovations" (Press release). Amtrak. October 23, 2023.
18. "Wilmington Bus Station". Greyhound Lines. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
19. "Groundbreaking for Wilmington Transit Center Celebrated Today" (Press release). DART First State. November 19, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
20. "Join DART for a Community Conversation". DART First State. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
21. "DART Statewide Service Change – Effective: Sunday, May 17, 2020". DART First State. Retrieved May 12, 2020.

Further reading

• Dilts, James D. (Fall–Winter 2010). "Three Amtrak Stations Take Different Roads to Rehabilitation". Railroad History (203): 46–50. JSTOR 43525153.

External links

• Wilmington, DE – Amtrak
• Wilmington, DE – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• SEPTA – Wilmington station
• Wilmington Amtrak & SEPTA Station – USA RailGuide (TrainWeb)
• Friends of Furness Railroad District Archived November 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. DE-12-D, "Pennsylvania Railroad Improvements, Wilmington Train Station", HAER No. DE-12-E, "Pennsylvania Railroad Improvements, Pennsylvania Railroad Office Building"
• NRHP Station Listing with Photos Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
• Station on Google Maps Street View: Front Street entrance, French Street entrance, West end of station
• Article from Railroad Age Gazette (1908) with original floor plan

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

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Delaware
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Lists by county	Kent New Castle (Northern) New Castle (Southern) Sussex
Lists by city	Wilmington (New Castle County)
Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Portal:National Register of Historic Places

v t e Frank Furness
Furness & Hewitt (1871–1875)	St. Peter's Episcopal Church of Germantown (1873) Trinity Church, Oxford (1875) Thomas Hockley House (1875) Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1876)
Frank Furness, Architect (1875–1881)	Centennial National Bank (1876) Emlen Physick Estate (1879) Fairview (1880) Wallingford station (1880) Knowlton (1881)
Furness & Evans (1881–1886)	Dolobran (1881) Gravers Lane station (1882) Mount Airy station (1882) Undine Barge Club (1883) St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Birdsboro (1885) Hockley Row (1886) First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia (1886)
Furness, Evans & Company (1886–c. 1931)	Lotta Crabtree Cottage (1886) Solomon House (1887) Water Street station (1887) Brooke Mansion, Birdsboro (1888) Ormonde (1888) Idlewild (1890) Williamson Free School (1890) University of Pennsylvania Library (1891) The Baldwin School (1891) Princeton Club, Philadelphia (1891) Lahaska station (1891) New Hope station (1891) Wycombe station (1891) Horace Jayne House (1895) Merion Cricket Club (1897) St. Luke's Church, Kensington (1904) Girard Trust Company Building (1907) Wilmington Station (1908) Zurbrugg Mansion (1910)
Demolished buildings	Lindenshade (1873) Provident Life & Trust Company (1879) Sedgwick station (1882) Pencoyd (1884) B&O Station, Pittsburgh (1887) B&O Station, Philadelphia (1888) Buckingham Valley station (1891) Jersey City Ferry Terminal (1892) Broad Street Station (1893)
Associated people	Allen Evans John Fraser G. W. & W. D. Hewitt Daniel Pabst William Lightfoot Price Louis Sullivan Wilson Brothers & Company
Commons

• Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware
• Historic American Engineering Record in Delaware
• Amtrak stations in Delaware
• Buildings and structures in Wilmington, Delaware
• SEPTA Regional Rail stations
• DART First State
• Stations on the Northeast Corridor
• Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in Delaware
• Clock towers in Delaware
• Wilmington Riverfront
• Frank Furness buildings
• Transportation buildings and structures in New Castle County, Delaware
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1908
• National Register of Historic Places in Wilmington, Delaware
• 1908 establishments in Delaware
• Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations
• Joe Biden
• Wilmington/Newark Line
• Presidential memorials in the United States