Bristol Train Station Rebuild Planned

The recent federal bipartisan infrastructure law will allow SEPTA to improve the Bristol Borough Train Station sooner than they planned.

The infrastructure bill will pump $7.5 million this year into upgrades to the station that sits along SEPTA’s Trenton Line which runs along Amtrak’s vital Northeast Corridor. The plan for the federal money was approved last week in SEPTA budget for fiscal year 2022.

In total, the multi-year project to overhaul the station will cost $30 million. It will make the aging station safe and more accessible.

Under a conceptual plan laid out last year, SEPTA is considering using ramps and stairs to provide access to the high-level platforms. The upgrades will improve the look of the station and make it easier and safer for riders to board and disembark from trains. The proposal also calls for emergency low-level platforms that could be used by SEPTA or Amtrak staff and passengers if needed.

Official aim to rebuild the station with access to Trenton-bound and Philadelphia-bound trains on Prospect and Garden streets.

Kate O’Connor, SEPTA’s chief engineer for bridges and buildings, recently told LevittownNow.com the design for the station reconstruction will begin this summer and be completed by the end of 2023.

The goal would be for construction to start in summer of 2026 and be based on funding, O’Connor said.

“This capital project will make Bristol Station fully ADA accessible and includes full-length high-level platforms, passenger shelters, security improvements, and passenger amenities,” O’Connor said.

Prior to the passage of the infrastructure bill, which Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick voted for, the station was not scheduled to be reconstructed until 2027 to 2033.

Presently, SEPTA is performing minor improvements and repairs at the station.

O’Connor said the current work includes in-house crews working on structural steel and platform concrete repairs/back edge replacement for both platforms.

The current repairs are expected to be done by the end of next year.

SEPTA has completed multi-million dollar overhauls of the stations in Bristol Township’s Croydon section and Tullytown Borough’s Levittown section in recent years.

The former Bristol Train Station building at the base of the high-level platform was abandoned for years and restored more than 20 years ago with funding from the Grundy Foundation, government, and other organizations. The station building is now used as a day care and. It was constructed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1910.

The station off of Beaver Street replaced one that previously operated for years at Pond and Market streets.

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