New day for Franklin Square Station

    The Delaware River Port Authority took the next step toward reopening its Franklin Square PATCO Station Wednesday.
    The board of directors, at its monthly meeting, approved spending up to $500,000 to hire a design consulting firm to begin work on reopening the station, which was last closed in 1979.
    The station, which first opened in 1939, has been closed several times due to low ridership. DRPA is planning to reopen the station again because of development that has occurred around Franklin Square that the authority hopes will draw riders to it.
    In a statement, DRPA chairman John Estey said that the Franklin Square station – near Race St. and 6th St. – will provide riders access to Old City cultural and historical attractions around Independence Mall, including the Constitution Center and the National Museum of Jewish American History, which is under construction.
    DRPA has also noted that Franklin Square, reopened in 2006 after refurbishing, draws about 750,000 visitors a year, and the authority hopes to capitalize on some of that traffic.
    In other news, Standard & Poor’s upgraded its ratings of DRPA’s $808 million revenue bonds. The ratings agency raised its rating from BBB-plus to A-minus with a “stable outlook” on Monday.
    S&P also affirmed its rating of $351 million worth of DRPA project bonds at BBB-minus with a “stable outlook.”

Posted by Anthony Campisi

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