Owned by SEPTA Structure type Underground Electrified Overhead line | Tracks 2 Owner SEPTA Platforms in use 2 | |
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Location 37th and Spruce Streets
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Address Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States Similar 36th Street station, 40th Street Portal, 33rd Street station, 19th Street station, 22nd Street station | ||
37th Street station, also known as the 37 Street/Spruce Street/Woodland Avenue station, is a SEPTA Subway-Surface Lines trolley station in Philadelphia. It is the last station in the tunnel before the 40th Street Portal and carries Subway-Surface Trolley Routes 11, 13, 34, & 36. The entrance to go down into the eastbound side of the station is on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania and the entrance to go down into the westbound side of the station is on Spruce Street. The two stations are off set and are not on the same length of the track. Trolleys serving this station go eastbound to Center City Philadelphia and Westbound to the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Eastwick and Angora and the Delaware County suburbs of Yeadon and Darby. The reason why the station platforms are off set is because during construction of the subway station the above intersection was Spruce & 37th Streets at Woodland Avenue with all three streets crossing at a five points intersection. Upon entering the subway, 37th Street's westbound platform is passed first, the exit/entrance was built on the north side of Spruce Street, and the eastbound couldn't be on Spruce Street because it would have placed the subway exiting stairs in the middle of Spruce Street, so the eastbound platform exit/entrance was placed on the far side of Woodland Avenue (now Woodland Walk).
In October 2006, Penn's class of 1956 donated a new entrance for the Eastbound entrance of the station. The entrance is a replica of the Peter Witt trolleys (manufactured by J. G. Brill Company from 1923–26 for Philadelphia) that served the university students prior to 1956. The trolleys brought commuting students to the campus as well as to Center City. The trolleys were operated by the Philadelphia Transportation Company and Routes 11, 34 and 37 ran through the Penn campus on Woodland Avenue and Locust Streets for nearly 65 years. In 1956, the trolley route was buried to enable the university to unify its campus. Woodland Avenue and Locust Street became pedestrian walkways. The 2006-built replica was made by the Gomaco Trolley Company.