Wilmington station (Delaware)

Wilmington
The Wilmington station in July 2014
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; -75.551093Coordinates: 39°44′12″N 75°33′04″W / 39.736759°N 75.551093°W / 39.736759; -75.551093
Owned by	Amtrak
Line(s)	Northeast Corridor
Platforms	2 side platforms, 1 island platform
Tracks	3
Connections	Thruway Motorcoach DART First State
Construction
Parking	Garages and side street parking
Bicycle facilities	In parking garage on French Street
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	WIL(Amtrak Only)
Fare zone	4 (SEPTA)
History
Opened	1908
Rebuilt	2011
Electrified	1928
Previous names	French Street Wilmington Pennsylvania Station
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	700,341 annually[1]  0.6% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Baltimore toward Washington, DC Acela Express Philadelphia toward Boston South Station Vermonter Philadelphia toward St. Albans Baltimore toward Chicago Cardinal Philadelphia toward New York City Baltimore toward Charlotte Carolinian Baltimore toward New Orleans Crescent Baltimore toward Savannah Palmetto Newark, DE toward Norfolk, Newport News, or Lynchburg Northeast Regional Philadelphia toward Boston South Station or Springfield Baltimore toward Miami Silver Meteor Philadelphia toward New York City Silver Star SEPTA Churchmans Crossing toward Newark Wilmington/Newark Line Claymont toward Temple University   Former services   Pennsylvania Railroad Newport toward Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Edge Moor toward Philadelphia Terminus Wilmington Line Edge Moor toward Suburban Station New Castle toward Cape Charles Delmarva Division Terminus Amtrak Baltimore toward Newport News Federal Philadelphia toward South Station Aberdeen toward Tri-State Station Hilltopper Philadelphia toward Boston South Station Baltimore toward Washington, DC Montrealer Philadelphia toward Montreal
Wilmington Amtrak 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 #	76000581[2]
Added to NRHP	November 21, 1976

Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station, also known as Wilmington, is a passenger rail station in Wilmington, Delaware. One of Amtrak's busiest stops, it serves nine Amtrak trains and is part of the Northeast Corridor. It also serves SEPTA commuter trains on the Wilmington/Newark Line as well as local and intercity buses.

Built in 1907 as Pennsylvania Station, the station was renamed in 2011 for Vice President and former U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., an advocate for passenger rail who routinely took the train from Wilmington to Washington, D.C.^[3] Located on Front Street between French and Walnut Streets in downtown Wilmington, the station has one inside level with stores, a cafe, ticket offices, a car rental office, and a post office. Passengers board their trains on the second-story train platforms.

Architecture

The station from above in a 1977 Historic American Engineering Record survey photo

The station in 2010 during renovation

The station replaced an earlier station erected by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad.^[4]

It was built in 1907 for $300,000 by the PW&B successor, the Pennsylvania Railroad.^[5] 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 & 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.)^[5]

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.^[4] 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.^[4]

Wilmington Station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.^[6] A renovation project was conducted in 1984.^[5] The National Register added the adjacent railroad viaduct in 1999. SEPTA has been running to Wilmington since 1989.^[7]

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.^[3][5] During construction, customer operations, including platform access, were moved to a temporary station next door.^[5] The station reopened on December 6, 2010, and final work was completed in March 2011.^[3][8]

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 Joe Biden, who took over 7,000 round trips from the station during his U.S. Senate career and was noted as an advocate for Amtrak and passenger rail more generally.^[3][9]

Trains and local transit

The station is served by six Amtrak trains along the Northeast Corridor going south to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and going north to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. It is also served by the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor to Florida, and the Cardinal to Chicago. Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach service is provided through the station to Dover and Seaford, Delaware, and Salisbury, Maryland. It is also served by SEPTA Regional Rail's Wilmington/Newark Line with service to 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.

DART First State bus routes include 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 28, 32, 35, 38, 45, 59, 301, and 305 (seasonally).

See also

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

References

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wilmington station (Delaware).

• Friends of Furness Railroad District

• Amtrak – Stations – Wilmington, DE
• 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"
• SEPTA station page for Wilmington
• Wilmington Amtrak & SEPTA Station (USA RailGuide – TrainWeb)
• NRHP Station Listing with Photos
• Front Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• French Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• west end of station from Google Maps Street View
• Wilmington(WIL)--Great American Stations (Amtrak)

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