NRG station

NRG station (formerly named AT&T station, and earlier Pattison station) is the southern terminus of SEPTA's Broad Street Line, located at 3600 South Broad Street, at the intersection with Pattison Avenue in the South Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[4] The station's naming rights were sold to NRG Energy in 2018.[5] Previously, naming rights were sold to AT&T for eight years.[3]

This article is about the rapid transit station serving the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. For the train station serving NRG Park in Houston, Texas, see Stadium Park/Astrodome station.
NRG
Track 4 of NRG station
Location3600 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates39.9054°N 75.1732°W / 39.9054; -75.1732
Owned bySoutheastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
Platforms2 island platforms
Tracks4
Connections SEPTA City Bus: 4, 17[1]
Construction
Disabled accessYes
History
OpenedApril 8, 1973[2]
Electrified600 volts DC third rail
Previous namesPattison (1973–2010)
AT&T (2010–2018)[3]
Services
Preceding station SEPTA Following station
Terminus Broad Street Line Oregon
toward Fern Rock
Broad Street Line
Express (special events)
 Walnut–Locust
toward Fern Rock
Location
NRG
Location within Philadelphia

NRG station is located within short walking distance of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, providing access to Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, the Wells Fargo Center, and Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, the home venues of Philadelphia's four main professional sports teams – the Phillies, Flyers, 76ers, and Eagles, as well as the Temple University football team, Villanova University men's basketball team, and Philadelphia Wings lacrosse team.[6]

All local Broad Street Line trains serve the station. SEPTA often operates special "Sports Express" trains before and after large events. These trains run nonstop between NRG and Walnut–Locust stations and make express stops north to Fern Rock Transportation Center.[7] The station has a park and ride lot not operated by SEPTA; it is used for stadium parking during sporting events.[8]

History
NRG station house with Citizens Bank Park in the background

Pattison station opened for service on April 8, 1973 as one of the last two stations of the Broad Street subway to open, the other being the neighboring Oregon station.[2] The original line, which dates back to 1928, ran from Olney to City Hall.[9] From 1938 until this station's opening, the line terminated at Snyder station.[10] The two-station extension was built at a cost of $37 million in 1973 dollars.[2]

Renaming

On June 17, 2010 the station was renamed "AT&T Station." Naming rights were sold to AT&T for five years at a cost of $5 million; SEPTA netted $3 million, while the agency's advertising contractor Titan Outdoor (now Intersection received the remaining $2 million. The costs for renaming – included changing of all mentions of the station throughout the line to "AT&T Station and Sports Complex" – were covered by the $3 million.[3][11][12] The initial contract was later extended for an additional three years.

On July 25, 2018, SEPTA announced that NRG Energy had agreed to a five-year contract for the station's naming rights, paying $5.25 million. The name change to NRG Station took effect on August 1 and was inaugurated on August 14.[13] Intersection received 15% of this contract, or about $800,000.[14] It cost about $150,000 to change around 7,000 signs in the SEPTA system to reflect the name change, as well as $97,000 to reprint 6,000 route maps.[6] The contract also allows NRG to set up marketing tables in SEPTA stations, as well as rentable portable phone chargers in this station.[6]

Station layout
Station platform in 2018, prior to its renaming

Much like Oregon station, NRG station has its fare control barriers at four street-level headhouses, all located on the east side of Broad Street. The station has an unusually wide and long island platform to accommodate crush capacity crowds that occur regularly after events at the Sports Complex. There is an additional, infrequently-used platform on a level immediately beneath the regular service platform which is visible from the gated stairways along the length of the platform.

References
Station entrance in 2018, prior to the recent name change
  1. "Broad Street Line Schedule" (PDF). SEPTA. September 5, 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  2. "Subway Extension To Stadium Opens". Philadelphia Inquirer. April 7, 1973. p. 23. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  3. "SEPTA approves changing name of Pattison station to AT&T". Philadelphia Inquirer. 25 June 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  4. "AT&T Station". SEPTA. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  5. McCrone, Brian (26 July 2018). "The Last Stop on Broad Street Line? The SEPTA Station You Get Off for the Sports Stadiums? It's Getting a New Corporate Name". nbcphiladelphia.
  6. Winberg, Michaela (August 15, 2018). "SEPTA swapping 7,000 signs — at a cost of nearly $150,000 — to rename AT&T Station for NRG". Billy Penn.
  7. "Broad Street Line Sports Express". SEPTA. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  8. "Non-SEPTA parking for NRG Station (Formerly AT&T Station)". SEPTA. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  9. Hepp, John (2013). "Subways and Elevated Lines". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  10. ISEPTAPhilly Blog. "Route of the Week - Broad Street Line". SEPTA. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  11. "Heading to game? Stop at AT&T Station". PlanPhilly. June 17, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  12. Merritt, Athena D. (June 18, 2010). "AT&T near naming rights to SEPTA stop". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  13. Maykuth, Andrew; Laughlin, Jason (July 25, 2018). "SEPTA sells naming rights of AT&T Station to NRG". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  14. Saksa, Jim (July 26, 2018). "SEPTA drops AT&T, renames ex-Pattison Station for NRG Energy". Plan Philly. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
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