Station Review #21: Bridesburg (SEPTA)


Bridesburg is a train station located in the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia, immediately outside of Bridesburg. Bridesburg station is located along the Trenton line, where it intersects with Bridge Street and Aramingo/Harbison avenues, and the second closest station to Torresdale avenue (the closest would have been the now closed Frankford station that I believe was much closer to Adams avenue). 

History
I could not find a single historical picture of the station online.

There is very little known about Bridesburg station's history. From what is known, a padt version of Bridesburg station was originally built in 1883, before being replaced by another station in 1892. In 1896, that was replaced with a shelter type station. As far as I know, that's this station. 

Description 

There is not much at Bridesburg station. The entire station consists of two shelters off the side of a bridge. That's it, that's all there is at Bridesburg station. 

The platforms have bars on them, making your experience even more miserable. As far as I can think of, no other shelter like this exists in the entire SEPTA network. 

Also, none of this is accessible at all by the way. I don't know if you even can make Bridesburg accessible without completely rebuilding the station. And at that point, you might as well make it have full highs. 

To make matters worse, the station is near Bridge - Aramingo - Harbison - Torresdale, a very unsafe triangle of intersections. However, all of these roads have buses on them that connect to Bridesburg station, so all is not lost, however some road narrowing could be useful here, especially on Aramingo/Harbison. 

Gallery

Northbound Platform

Side of northbound shelter

Inside of one of the shelters

The southbound platform

Off the side of the northbound platform

At least you can pay here

Northbound platform at night

The sign

The view you get inside one of the shelters. It really goes to show how hard they went on the prison aesthetic with this station, but not as much as Holmesburg station 

Transit Connections

I think that this might be the only thing Bridesburg is good at in any way, shape, or form. It has multiple bus connections. Frequent connections will be bolded. These bus connections include:

• Route 25: Frankford Transportation Center to Columbus Commons (Whitman; this route connects the station to Frankford Transportation Center, the Aramingo Avenue shoppes, the Delaware riverfront, Penns Landing, and eventually to Pier 70 and Columbus Commons shopping centers. More importantly though, this links Bridesburg station with Bridesburg and Frankford themselves) 
• Route 26: Frankford Transportation Center to Pulaski - Rittenhouse (Germantown; This bus only serves the deviation that links to this station on weekdays, and infrequently, with two buses per hour at peak. This route links Bridesburg station to Frankford Transportation Center, neighborhoods such as Oxford Circle and Lawncrest, Olney Transportation Center, LaSalle University, Central High School, and Germantown)
• Route 56: Bakers Centre/23rd - Venango (Allegheny/Nicetown) to Torresdale - Cottman (Tacony/Holmesburg; This route links Tacony and or Holmesburg to Nicetown/Allegheny, a direct link to the Market-Frankford Line and Broad Street lines). 
• Route 73: Frankford Transportation Center to Richmond-Westmoreland (Poet Richmond; This route links Bridesburg Station to Frankford Transportation Center, Bridesburg itself, and Richmond - Westmoreland loop, where you can transfer to the 60 and 15). 
• Route 84: Frankford Transportation Center to Bustleton - County Line (Forest Hills; This bus route links Bridesburg to Frankford Transportation Center, industrial areas among the Delaware river, Torresdale - Cottman loop, Torresdale itself, neighborhoods in 19154, Philadelphia Mills Mall, Byberry East Industrial Park, and the West Trenton line at Somerton and Forest Hills stations) 

Route 73 bus

Points of interest in Bridesburg
Downtown Bridesburg

If you are any form of visible minority, it'd probably be better to not go to Bridesburg. I legitimately felt unsafe myself going there. The neighborhood is littered in Trump 2024 signs, along with other similar political signs. I have seen confederate flags flown here before as well. In addition, this neighborhood at one point attempted to create a KKK chapter a few years ago. 

That all aside, there is not much to do in Bridesburg. The main street is Richmond Street/Bridge Street. The entire neighborhood feels like it was transported out of the Susquehanna River valley and placed in Philadelphia. 

More Richmond Street

Bridge Street, this time

The only other thing I can think of nearby is the original route of the Tacony Creek, of which still partially remains: 

The remnants of the creek that created Bridesburg 

Checklist

Some vestige of accessibility: ×
Clean: ×
Connections to other transit routes: ✓ 
Easy passage to either side: × 
Fare Payment Validators (if applicable): ✓
Lighting: ✓ 
Maps: ×
Adequate Parking: × 
Shelters: ✓
Seating: ✓
Station in Good Condition: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info: ×
Updated Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: .5/10

I despise this station. The only station on this line that's worse in my opinion is Eddington. 

Bridesburg station has no groom because the groom became so horrified by the station that they ran off. 

Station Directory

--------Philadelphia County--------
''''''''Center City Zone''''''''
Jefferson (Market East)
Suburban
30th Street
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Bridesburg 
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
--------Bucks County--------
Cornwell Heights
Croydon
''''''''Zone 4''''''''
Bristol
Levittown
--------New Jersey--------
--------Mercer County--------
''''''''NJ Zone''''''''
Trenton Transit Center

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