NRG station explained

NRG
Style:SEPTA
Style2:SEPTA Broad Street
Symbol Location:septa
Symbol:septa
Address:3600 South Broad Street
Borough:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:39.9054°N -75.1732°W
Owned:City of Philadelphia
Operator:SEPTA
Platform:2 island platforms
Tracks:4
Connections: SEPTA City Bus: [1]
Structure:Underground
Accessible:Yes
Former:Pattison (1973–2010)
AT&T (2010–2018)
Opened:April 8, 1973[2]
Other Services Header:Future services (2024)
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail-metro
Zoom:15

NRG station (formerly named AT&T station, and earlier Pattison station) is the southern terminus of SEPTA's Broad Street Line, located at 3600 South Broad Street, at the intersection with Pattison Avenue in the South Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3] The station's naming rights were sold to NRG Energy in 2018.[4] Previously, naming rights were sold to AT&T for eight years.[5]

NRG station is located within short walking distance of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, providing access to Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, the Wells Fargo Center, and Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, the home venues of Philadelphia's four main professional sports teams – the Phillies, Flyers, 76ers, and Eagles, as well as the Temple University football team, select games of the Villanova University men's basketball team, and Philadelphia Wings lacrosse team.

All local Broad Street Line trains serve the station. SEPTA often operates special "Sports Express" trains before and after large events. These trains run nonstop between NRG and Walnut–Locust stations and make express stops north to Fern Rock Transportation Center.[6] The station has a park and ride lot not operated by SEPTA; it is used for stadium parking during sporting events.[7]

History

Pattison station opened for service on April 8, 1973 as one of the last two stations of the Broad Street subway to open, the other being the neighboring Oregon station. The original line, which dates back to 1928, ran from Olney to .[8] From 1938 until this station's opening, the line terminated at Snyder station.[9] The two-station extension was built at a cost of $37 million in 1973 dollars.

Renaming

On June 17, 2010 the station was renamed "AT&T Station." Naming rights were sold to AT&T for five years at a cost of $5 million; SEPTA netted $3 million, while the agency's advertising contractor Titan Outdoor (now Intersection) received the remaining $2 million. The costs for renaming – included changing of all mentions of the station throughout the line to "AT&T Station and Sports Complex" – were covered by the $3 million.[10] [11] The initial contract was later extended for an additional three years.

On July 25, 2018, SEPTA announced that NRG Energy had agreed to a five-year contract for the station's naming rights, paying $5.25 million. The name change to NRG Station took effect on August 1 and was inaugurated on August 14.[12] Intersection received 15% of this contract, or about $800,000.[13] It cost about $150,000 to change around 7,000 signs in the SEPTA system to reflect the name change, as well as $97,000 to reprint 6,000 route maps.[14] The contract also allows NRG to set up marketing tables in SEPTA stations, as well as rentable portable phone chargers in this station.

Station layout

Much like Oregon station, NRG station has its fare control barriers at four street-level headhouses, all located on the east side of Broad Street. The station has an unusually wide and long island platform to accommodate crush capacity crowds that occur regularly after events at the Sports Complex. There is an additional, infrequently-used platform on a level immediately beneath the regular service platform which is visible from the gated stairways along the length of the platform.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Broad Street Line Schedule. October 30, 2010. SEPTA. September 5, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101129175503/http://septa.org/schedules/transit/pdf/bsl.pdf. 29 November 2010 . live.
  2. News: Subway Extension To Stadium Opens . . April 7, 1973 . 23 . June 12, 2020.
  3. Web site: AT&T Station. SEPTA. October 3, 2017.
  4. Web site: The Last Stop on Broad Street Line? The SEPTA Station You Get Off for the Sports Stadiums? It's Getting a New Corporate Name. McCrone. Brian. 26 July 2018. nbcphiladelphia.
  5. News: SEPTA approves changing name of Pattison station to AT&T . . 25 June 2010 . 29 November 2013.
  6. Web site: Broad Street Line Sports Express. SEPTA. October 3, 2017.
  7. Web site: Non-SEPTA parking for NRG Station (Formerly AT&T Station) . . June 11, 2020.
  8. Web site: Subways and Elevated Lines . Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia . Hepp . John . 2013 . June 11, 2020.
  9. Web site: Route of the Week – Broad Street Line . ISEPTAPhilly Blog . . June 11, 2020.
  10. News: Heading to game? Stop at AT&T Station . June 17, 2010 . . June 11, 2020.
  11. News: AT&T near naming rights to SEPTA stop . Athena D. . Merritt . June 18, 2010 . 29 June 2013.
  12. News: Maykuth . Andrew . Laughlin . Jason . July 25, 2018 . SEPTA sells naming rights of AT&T Station to NRG . . July 26, 2018.
  13. News: SEPTA drops AT&T, renames ex-Pattison Station for NRG Energy . Saksa . Jim . . July 26, 2018 . June 11, 2020.
  14. News: SEPTA swapping 7,000 signs — at a cost of nearly $150,000 — to rename AT&T Station for NRG . Winberg . Michaela . Billy Penn . August 15, 2018.