SEPTA fully reopened its Ardmore Station Monday morning, concluding a six-year renovation project that added a new parking lot, waiting area, restrooms and several accessibility upgrades.
The $59 million project was approved by SEPTA in 2019, and renovations were expected to be completed by 2022. But the project incurred multiple delays.
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The station, which serves Regional Rail’s Paoli-Thorndale line and also is used by Amtrak, remained open throughout construction, but passengers had to walk a few blocks to a temporary platform to board their trains.
The project was part of a larger effort to upgrade stations to be in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. It now has new ramps, elevators and high-level platforms that allow passengers to board trains without walking up stairs.
Renovations initially were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which paused construction and later led to supply chain issues that delayed that arrival of materials. Crews also could only work in four- to six-hour shifts so trains still could operate during the day, and they ran into unexpected setbacks, including crumbling walls, infrastructure problems and hitting an oil tank, the Inquirer reported.
The Paoli-Thorndale line is SEPTA’s busiest Regional Rail line, with 15,000 riders moving between Chester County and Center City every day. The initial station was built in the 1870s, though it was replaced in 1957.