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PATCO will start cleaning filthy stations this month with overnight closures

PATCO and the city will collaborate on clearing and cleaning its stations in Center City.

An entry to the PATCO station at 15th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, shown in March. Beginning Sept. 1 PATCO will suspend overnight train service on weekdays for deep cleaning and close station entrances.
An entry to the PATCO station at 15th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, shown in March. Beginning Sept. 1 PATCO will suspend overnight train service on weekdays for deep cleaning and close station entrances.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

PATCO is launching a program to scour filth and grime from stations in New Jersey and Philadelphia, which will include overnight closure of sections of Center City’s underground pedestrian concourse.

“There needs to be a pause so we can reset the system,” said John T. Hanson, CEO of the Delaware River Port Authority, which owns and operates the bistate rail line.

“Conditions on PATCO are close to a crisis level at this point,” he said.

Like many transit systems, PATCO in recent years has dealt with increasing numbers of unhoused people using stations and trains as de facto shelters, engaging in open drug use and other challenging behavior.

The agency’s board of commissioners in late March voted to undertake the overnight deep-cleaning on weekdays, but the project could not begin until PATCO and the city reached a formal cooperation agreement, which only took place recently.

The issue: divided jurisdictions around regional boundaries in Philadelphia PATCO stations.

Philadelphia owns and maintains the concourse spaces, which have long been sites for encampments of unhoused people and are often strewed with trash, human waste, and, at times, tents. PATCO controls the platforms and other territory behind the turnstiles.

Areas around PATCO’s 12th/13th Street and 15th/16th Street stations have been especially hard hit.

Under the agreement, the city and PATCO will collaborate on the work and policing in the line’s Philadelphia stations, officials said.

City Public Safety Director Adam Geer said working with PATCO is part of the city’s obligation to provide a safer environment for residents, commuters and visitors.

“Bringing all parties to the table… was a clear opportunity to ensure those using this resource feel secure and valued,” Geer said in a statement.

The initiative is scheduled to begin July 14 and continue through Aug. 29, with select stations closing for alternating weeks between midnight and 4:30 a.m.:

  1. Lindenwold in South Jersey

  2. 8th and Market Station

  3. 15th/16th Station

  4. Broadway Station at the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden.

During that period, trains will operate every two hours overnight, servicing the stations that remain open.

Then on Sept. 1, PATCO is scheduled to suspend service along the entire rail line between midnight and 4:30 a.m. for six months.

Stations and the concourses will be closed for cleaning and maintenance; people inside will be relocated until the spaces reopen in the mornings.

PATCO officials said the cleaning and maintenance work should not disrupt travel for large numbers of customers, noting that it carries an average of 25 passengers per hour between midnight and 4:30 a.m.

Trains will run for 24 hours on weekends.

PATCO expects to spend about $15,000 on the first wave of cleaning and $450,000 on the second — as well as $250,000 on gates to close off the stations overnight, Hanson said.

“I have to put our employees and police in the best possible position to succeed,” Hanson said. And PATCO has a duty to keep customers and others safe.

“We are very respectful of all the people that are there and we’re going to do our best to make sure those who need help get the services they need,” Hanson said.