{{short description|Passenger rail station in Wilmington, Delaware}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox station | name = Wilmington, DE | style = Amtrak | image = Wilmington Station from parking garage, July 2014.JPG | image_caption = Wilmington station in July 2014 | other_name = Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station | address = 100 South French Street | borough = Wilmington, Delaware | country = United States | coordinates = {{Coord|39.736759|-75.551093|format=dms|region:US-DE_type:railwaystation|display=inline,title}} | owned = Amtrak | line = Amtrak Northeast Corridor<!-- the physical "line" is not the same as "services" which are detailed below --> | platform = 2 side platforms, 1 island platform | tracks = 3 | connections = {{Unbulleted list | {{bus icon}} Amtrak Thruway | {{bus icon}} DART First State: 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 33, 35, 40, 301<ref name="Timetable" /> | {{bus icon}} {{rint|us|greyhound}} Greyhound Lines }} | parking = Paid parking nearby | bicycle = 20 rack spaces<ref name="Station Info">{{Cite web |title=Wilmington Station |url=https://www5.septa.org/travel/stops/wilmington-station/ |access-date=July 12, 2023 |website=SEPTA |language=en-US}}</ref> | accessible = Yes<ref name="Timetable" /> | code = {{Amtrak code|WIL}}<br />SEPTA: 90203 | iata = ZWI | zone = 4 (SEPTA)<ref name="Timetable">{{Cite web |date=April 16, 2023 |title=Wilmington/Newark Line Timetable |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/schedules.septa.org/current/WIL.pdf |access-date=July 11, 2023 |website=SEPTA}}</ref> | opened = {{Start date|1908}} | rebuilt = 2011 | electrified = <!-- September 30, -->1928<ref>{{cite news |title=Electric Trains in Service on Pennsy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69043666/wilmington-electric-october-1-1928/ |access-date=January 31, 2021 |work=The Every Evening |date=October 1, 1928 |location=Wilmington, Delaware |page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> (toward Philadelphia)<br /><!-- February 10, -->1935<ref>{{cite news |title=N.Y.-Washington Electric Train Service Starts Sunday on P.R.R. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69030892/prr-electrification-february-9-1935/ |access-date=January 31, 2021 |work=The Daily Home News |date=February 9, 1935 |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |page=3|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> (toward Washington D.C) | former = French Street<br />Wilmington Pennsylvania Station | mpassengers = {{rail pass box|system=Amtrak|passengers={{Amtrak ridership|Wilmington}}{{Amtrak ridership|citationDE}}|pass_year={{Amtrak ridership|date}}}} {{rail pass box|system=SEPTA|passengers=878 boardings, 632 alightings (weekday average)<ref>{{cite web | title=Fiscal Year 2021 Service Plan Update| publisher=SEPTA | date=June 2020 | url=https://planning.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FY-2021_Service_Plan_Update.docx | page=24 | access-date=March 11, 2022}}</ref>|pass_year=2017|pass_rank=19 of 146 (SEPTA)}} | services = {{Adjacent stations |system1=Amtrak |line1=Acela Express|left1=Baltimore|right1=Philadelphia |line2=Vermonter|left2=Baltimore|right2=Philadelphia |line3=Cardinal|left3=Baltimore|right3=Philadelphia |line4=Carolinian|left4=Baltimore|right4=Philadelphia |line5=Crescent|left5=Baltimore|right5=Philadelphia |line6=Palmetto|left6=Baltimore|right6=Philadelphia |line7=Silver Meteor|left7=Baltimore|right7=Philadelphia |line8=Northeast Regional|left8=Newark, Delaware|right8=Philadelphia |system9=SEPTA |line9=Wilmington/Newark|left9=Churchmans Crossing|right9=Claymont |line10=Wilmington/Newark|note-mid10=(weekends and major holidays)|right10=Claymont }} | other_services_header = Former services | other_services_collapsible = yes | other_services = {{Adjacent stations |system1=Pennsylvania Railroad |line1=Washington-Philadelphia|left1=Newport|right1=Edge Moor |line2=Wilmington Line|right2=Edge Moor |line3=Delmarva Division|left3=New Castle |system4=Amtrak |line4=Chesapeake|left4=Newark, Delaware|right4=Chester |line5=Federal|left5=Baltimore|right5=Philadelphia |line6=Hilltopper|left6=Aberdeen|right6=Philadelphia |line7=Metroliner|left7=Baltimore|right7=Philadelphia |line8=Montrealer|left8=Baltimore|right8=Philadelphia |line9=Silver Star|left9=Baltimore|right9=Philadelphia }} | nrhp = {{Infobox NRHP | name = Wilmington Station | embed=yes | nrhp_type = | architect= Furness, Evans & Co. | area = 2 buildings and 1 structure on {{convert|3.3|acre|1}} | architecture= Romanesque Revival | added = November 21, 1976 | refnum = 76000581<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }} | mapframe = yes | mapframe-marker-color = #000 }}
'''Wilmington station''', also known as the '''Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station''', is a passenger rail station in Wilmington, Delaware. It serves nine Amtrak train routes and is part of the Northeast Corridor. It also serves SEPTA Regional Rail commuter trains on the Wilmington/Newark Line as well as DART First State local buses and Greyhound Lines intercity buses.
Built in 1907 as '''Pennsylvania Station''', the station was renamed in 2011 for then-Vice President (now former President) Joe Biden, an advocate for passenger rail who routinely took the train from Wilmington to Washington, D.C. during his time as a Senator from 1973 to 2009.<ref name="ajabc" /> In 1987, Biden formally announced his ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination at this station. Located on Front Street between French and Walnut Streets in downtown Wilmington, the station has one inside level with stores, a cafe/newsstand, Amtrak and SEPTA ticket offices, a car rental office, and restrooms. Passengers board their trains on the second-story train platforms.
== History == thumb|left|An aerial view of the station in 1977 <!--thumb|The station in 2010 during renovation--> The station replaced an earlier station erected by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad.<ref name="Great American Stations">[http://www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/WIL/Station_view Great American Stations]. Accessed March 8, 2013.</ref> It was built in 1907 for $300,000 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|300000|1907|fmt=c}} today) by the PW&B successor, the Pennsylvania Railroad.<ref name=Taylor2010 /> It was designed by renowned architect Frank Furness, who also designed the adjacent Pennsylvania Railroad Building (which housed the offices for the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad) and the nearby Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Water Street Station. The Pennsylvania Railroad Building has since been renovated; as of 2014, it holds the offices of ING Direct United States.<ref name=Taylor2010 /> The new station was part of a grade separation project that also included construction of the Wilmington Rail Viaduct.<ref name="nrhp">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=99001276}} |format=PDF|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Wilmington Rail Viaduct |author=Debra Compagnari Martin, City of Wilmington|date=January 1999|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=February 26, 2016}}</ref>
Admired for his use of new and innovative materials and his forceful architectural statements, Furness chose to have the trains move right through the second floor of the station, with room for a ticketing and retail concourse at ground level underneath the tracks.<ref name="Great American Stations" /> This unconventional arrangement celebrated the power of the locomotive and America's industrial strength. The north end of the station has a four-faced rectangular clock tower that rises an extra story above the main roof. It is decorated with stone and terra cotta work that is repeated in plainer form throughout the station.<ref name="Great American Stations" />
Wilmington Station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.<ref>[http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/DE/New+Castle/state8.html New Castle County Listings at the National Register of Historic Places (Building – #76000581)]</ref> A renovation project was conducted in 1984.<ref name=Taylor2010 /> The National Register added the adjacent railroad viaduct in 1999. SEPTA has been running to Wilmington since 1989.<ref>[http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/DE/New+Castle/state8.html New Castle County Listings at the National Register of Historic Places (Structure – #99001276)]</ref>
In 2009, the station began a two-year restoration; about two-thirds of the $37.7 million in funding came from United States government stimulus funds.<ref name="ajabc" /><ref name=Taylor2010>{{Citation |last=Taylor |first=Adam |date=April 3, 2010 |title=Delaware transportation: For now, it's a headache on all sides of the tracks |periodical=The News Journal (Delawareonline) |place=Wilmington |publisher=Gannett |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/delawareonline/access/2001474291.html?FMT=ABS |access-date=December 9, 2010 |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104154455/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/delawareonline/access/2001474291.html?FMT=ABS |url-status=dead }}{{subscription required}}</ref> During construction, customer operations, including platform access, were moved to a temporary station next door.<ref name=Taylor2010 /> The station reopened on December 6, 2010, and final work was completed in March 2011.<ref name="ajabc" /><ref>{{cite press release |title=Historic Wilmington Train Station Re-Opens |publisher=Amtrak |url=http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249218312948&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_ATK-10-156-WILMINGTON_TRAIN_STATION.pdf |access-date=December 9, 2010 |date=December 6, 2010}}</ref>
On March 19, 2011, the station's name was changed from Wilmington Station to Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Railroad Station. The ceremony honored U.S. Vice President (and later President) Joe Biden, who took over 7,000 round trips from the station to Washington, D.C. during his U.S. Senate career and was noted as an advocate for Amtrak and passenger rail more generally.<ref name="ajabc">{{cite news |url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/03/amtrak-joe-biden-gets-his-own-train-station.html |title='Amtrak Joe' Biden Gets His Own Train Station |author=Travers, Karen |publisher=ABC News |date=March 16, 2011 |access-date=March 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319050955/http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/03/amtrak-joe-biden-gets-his-own-train-station.html |archive-date=March 19, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110319/NEWS03/110319015/Biden-I-don-t-deserve-Amtrak-station-honor?odyssey=tab%7cmostpopular%7ctext%7cFRONTPAGE |title=Biden: 'I don't deserve' Amtrak station honor |author=Bothum, Kelly |newspaper=The News Journal |date=March 19, 2011 |access-date=March 19, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=February 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On January 20, 2017, within an hour after completing his tenure as vice president, Biden boarded an Amtrak ''Acela'' train in Washington, D.C. bound for his namesake station.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cherry|first=Amy|title=VIDEO: Crowd cheers, chants 'Welcome Home Joe' for the homecoming of Delaware's own|publisher=WDEL|location=Wilmington, DE|date=January 20, 2017|url=http://www.wdel.com/news/crowd-cheers-chants-welcome-home-joe-for-the-homecoming-of/article_2797b120-df52-11e6-8783-a78a028476d2.html|access-date=March 10, 2018}}</ref>
The adjacent Wilmington Transit Center for DART First State bus service opened in May 2020.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://delawarebusinessnow.com/2020/05/new-dart-bus-hub-opens-near-train-station/ |title=New DART bus hub opens near train station |newspaper=Delaware Business Now |date=May 20, 2020}}</ref> A $11.6 million renovation of the station, which included two new escalators, was completed in October 2023.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://media.amtrak.com/2023/10/amtrak-completes-wilmington-station-renovations/ |title=Amtrak Completes Wilmington Station Renovations |date=October 23, 2023 |publisher=Amtrak}}</ref> {{clear left}}
== Services == === Rail === {{Unsourced section|date=February 2026}} thumb|left|A northbound Amtrak ''Northeast Regional'' train at Wilmington station The station is served by Amtrak ''Northeast Regional'' and ''Acela'' trains along the Northeast Corridor going south to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and going north to Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. It is also served by several long-distance trains including the ''Cardinal'' to Chicago, the ''Carolinian'' to Charlotte, the ''Crescent'' to New Orleans, the ''Palmetto'' to Savannah, the ''Silver Meteor'' to Miami, and the ''Vermonter'' to St. Albans, Vermont. Amtrak Thruway service is provided through the station to Dover, Delaware and Salisbury, Maryland via Greyhound Lines. It is also served by SEPTA Regional Rail's Wilmington/Newark Line with service to Center City Philadelphia and Newark, Delaware. {{clear left}} === Bus === thumb|left|Wilmington Bus Station in 2018 Greyhound Lines intercity buses stop at the Wilmington Bus Station adjacent to the Wilmington station at 101 North French Street. The bus terminal is attached to the station's parking garage. Greyhound Lines provides direct, one-seat ride service from the bus terminal to various cities including Baltimore, New York City, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wilmington Bus Station|publisher=Greyhound Lines|url=https://locations.greyhound.com/bus-stations/us/delaware/wilmington/bus-station-180060|access-date=December 4, 2018|archive-date=December 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205103347/https://locations.greyhound.com/bus-stations/us/delaware/wilmington/bus-station-180060|url-status=dead}}</ref>
DART First State bus routes serving Wilmington station include 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 28, 33, 35, 40, 301, and 305 (seasonally). Most buses stop at the Wilmington Transit Center adjacent to the station. The Wilmington Transit Center was built as a DART First State bus hub adjacent to Wilmington station. A groundbreaking ceremony for the transit center was held on November 19, 2018, with Governor John Carney, U.S. Senator Tom Carper, Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, DelDOT Secretary Jennifer Cohan, and DART First State CEO John Sisson in attendance. The Wilmington Transit Center serves most DART First State bus routes in Wilmington and includes a covered waiting area with seats, real-time bus displays, a ticket sales office, restrooms, vending machines, bicycle racks, and parking. Construction of the transit center cost $19 million and opened on May 17, 2020.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Groundbreaking for Wilmington Transit Center Celebrated Today|publisher=DART First State|date=November 19, 2018|url=https://www.dartfirststate.com/dtc.ejs?command=PublicDTCPressReleaseDisplay&id=7410|access-date=December 4, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Join DART for a Community Conversation|publisher=DART First State|url= https://www.dartfirststate.com/newsy/community_conversations/2019/index.shtml|access-date=December 28, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=DART Statewide Service Change – Effective: Sunday, May 17, 2020|publisher=DART First State|url= https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vToFBdahKg9LfFnQ8YfVMPDsw_HtRp6-t4VUOKQ6WLpffghb1ul9NukiF5AoqbH14rtTgi963Esy2va/pub|access-date=May 12, 2020}}</ref> {{clear left}} == See also == * National Register of Historic Places listings in Wilmington, Delaware
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == * {{cite journal | last=Dilts | first=James D. | title=Three Amtrak Stations Take Different Roads to Rehabilitation | journal=Railroad History | issue=203 | pages=46–50 | date=Fall–Winter 2010 | jstor=43525153}}
== External links == {{Commons category inline}} {{Amtrak web|WIL|Wilmington, DE}} * {{SEPTA links}} *{{HAER |survey=DE-12-D |id=de0216 |title=Pennsylvania Railroad Improvements, Wilmington Train Station}}, {{HAER |survey=DE-12-E |id=de0217 |title=Pennsylvania Railroad Improvements, Pennsylvania Railroad Office Building |link=no}} *[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951p00469604a?urlappend=%3Bseq=623 Article from ''Railroad Age Gazette'' (1908) with original floor plan]
{{Amtrak Delaware stations}} {{Wilmington, Delaware}} {{SEPTA Regional Rail stations}} {{National Register of Historic Places in Delaware}} {{Frank Furness}} {{DART First State}}
Category:Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Delaware Category:Amtrak stations in Delaware Category:Buildings and structures in Wilmington, Delaware Category:SEPTA Regional Rail stations Category:DART First State Category:Stations on the Northeast Corridor Category:Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in Delaware Category:Clock towers in Delaware Category:Wilmington Riverfront Category:Frank Furness buildings Category:Transportation buildings and structures in New Castle County, Delaware Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1908 Category:National Register of Historic Places in Wilmington, Delaware Category:1908 establishments in Delaware Category:Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Category:Joe Biden Category:Wilmington/Newark Line Category:Presidential memorials in the United States