Levittown (formerly known as Levittown–Tullytown) is an active commuter railroad station in the borough of Tullytown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Serving trains of SEPTA Regional Rail's Trenton Line, the station sits at the junction of U.S. Route 13 (Bristol Pike) and Levittown Parkway. The station has two high-level side platforms, connected by a pedestrian overpass. Amtrak services along the Northeast Corridor bypass the station. The next station to the north is Trenton Transit Center and the next station to the south is Bristol.
Levittown station opened on April 26, 1953, replacing a former Pennsylvania Railroad station at Cheston Avenue known as Tullytown, which opened in 1833. The station was a product of the construction of Levittown, a development of over 16,000 homes by Levitt & Sons. The station consisted of two low-level side platforms, a concrete underpass to connect platforms and a fieldstone ticket office. From the beginning of the station's history, multiple groups have worked to get more service between Levittown and Center City, Philadelphia, driving up ridership over a 20-year span since it opened. Amtrak serviced the station briefly in 1971 at the beginning of the agency's creation. SEPTA replaced the station from 2015–2019 to make it accessible for handicapped people, replacing it with two high-level platforms, an overpass instead of an underpass and a redesigned parking lot.
History Tullytown station (1832–1950) Railroad service in the area of Tullytown began on November 14, 1833 with the opening of the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad between Morrisville and Bristol. The line was operated by horseback with rail cars. By August 1834, there were three trains between Morrisville and Bristol every day in each direction. Service from Bristol to the Kensington District, began on November 3, 1834. The first station depot at Tullytown was built in 1836.
Construction of Levittown (1951–1954) Levitt & Sons announced on August 21, 1951 that they would build a new community of 16,000 houses. This new project would involve over in Tullytown and Fallsington, Pennsylvania. The project, named Levittown, was based on the Levittown, New York they had built in Nassau County, New York and be from U.S. Steel's plant. The construction of new houses began in late October 1951, with equipment coming from the New York site as the completion of that project was expected by the end of November. Plans were that 150 new homes would be built on the land each week. Three homes were in place by December 11. The first families would move to Levittown in June 1952.
Local advertising noted that the Pennsylvania Railroad would build a new train station to help commuters reach Philadelphia in just over a half-hour. With the construction of Levittown and plans for a new train station, locals in Tullytown were concerned about the borough of Tullytown losing its name in the area. The Pennsylvania Railroad placed signs at Tullytown station in February 1952 that the new station would be built on the edge of the borough rather than in the center of Tullytown, causing local resentment. The construction also caused locals to have concern that the construction of the new station at Levittown would eliminate not just Tullytown station, but the stops at Edgely and Bristol, as there would be four stations in a stretch of railroad.
Levittown station would be a modern construction similar to the one built at Curtis Park station. This new depot would be different from the Curtis Park one as it would be architecture in the area of Bucks County rather than a full replica. Levittown station would be in design, with fieldstone. The new station would have a ticket office and waiting room, along with a baggage office and restrooms for passengers. The station would have two long platforms that would also have wide shelters. There would also be a 1,000-car parking lot on U.S. Route 13 at the junction of Levittown Boulevard, a new street part of the construction. Construction of a new station at Levittown began in September 1952 west of the Tullytown station on the site of a local farm in Bristol Township. By September 26, concrete for the station's foundation was being poured. However, the railroad would not confirm or deny the design of the depot. William Levitt stated on November 26 that the station would be finished by January 1, 1953 and they were working in coordination with the Pennsylvania Railroad to ensure trains would run when Levittown was ready for passenger service.
In December, the members of the Levittown Civic Association passed out a survey to find out how many of their residents would use the new station once it upon opening. The survey also asked what time of day the people would use the train service and where they would use it to go. The survey was completed in late January 1953. The results were that the station should be built in the Pinewood section of Levittown as that was where 40% of the commuters were. 591 of residents who commuted by train, 234 of which were from Pinewood. Most of those surveyed would go to North Philadelphia station or Center City, Philadelphia on trains between 7:30–8:00 a.m. and return on a train from 5:00–5:30 p.m. The Pennsylvania Railroad made their own survey in February 1953. Locals of the Levittown Civic Association's Transportation Committee noted that while trains were passing the new station, but not stopping. The committee's leader, Alexander Kopstein, stated that they were talking to railroad officials and pressured them for trains to stop at Levittown station. Kopstein added that he and the committee created a new bus map and would post it in the Levittown Exhibition Center.
At a meeting of the Tullytown Borough Council on March 9, 50 residents of the borough attended and showed their concern for the railroad crossing in Tullytown and the fate of the train station once Levittown station. Locals stated they were promised that the new Levittown station would have an underpass under the tracks for pedestrians to use in Tullytown. The railroad never told local officials on the fate of Tullytown station and the officials, including the borough postmaster, were upset. The postmaster stated that she would want to discuss with Pennsylvania Railroad officials about how hard it was to cross the railroad tracks. She added that the new station should have Tullytown signage on the east platform while the west side would have signage for Levittown.
The railroad announced on March 13, 1953 that the new station would open around April 1 and until then, the station at Tullytown would receive seven more local trains for commuters. The Levittown Civic Association met on March 17 to discuss demand for more railroad service to Levittown station. The group stated that they wanted express service to Philadelphia from Levittown station and that the directors of the organization would have to send "strongly worded telegrams" to railroad management. Their reasoning was that the Levittown station or the Tullytown station deserved express service because it had surpassed the population of nearby Bristol. The Pennsylvania Railroad responded to the Civic Association's request on April 11, noting that Levittown station would get two express trains from and to Philadelphia. However, they stated that the statistics the railroad provided the Public Utilities Commission were only commuters who would go from Tullytown station to Levittown. The number would not consider ridership from Edgely, Bristol and Trenton stations.
Pennsylvania Railroad and Tullytown borough officials held at a meeting at the home of Fred Rentschler, the Borough Council secretary. The railroad told officials that the new station was already a financial loss for the railroad and that construction of an overpass or tunnel would cost $50,000–$100,000 to the damage. Borough officials released a statement to the press that William Levitt had built a station as an advertising product, rather than for commutation. They added that when Levitt learned about the underpass not being financially feasible, that he should have asked the railroad to move the station to the Fallsington Avenue bridge for safety and convenience. Levitt's spokesperson denied this accusation and that it was set where it was for the use of the majority of Levittown residents. The press were told that the railroad did designs and planning for the new station and while Levitt was the general contractor for the project, the railroad paid for the station and owned the property. The borough committee stated that the railroad spent $175,000 for the construction of the station and did not make one that would be convenient for everyone. They suggested that the railroad and Levitt should share funds for a foot crossing to Tullytown.
On April 15, the Pennsylvania Railroad released the schedule for Levittown station, effective April 26. The April 26 opening date was chosen by the railroad as it was the start of daylight savings time. The ticket office would open the next day and operated part time. Train 3857 from Trenton would arrive at Levittown at 6:03 a.m. and head to Central City, Philadelphia. Train 3854 left Suburban and would arrive at Levittown at 5:03 p.m. A new commuter's express train would also begin on June 29. As part of the announcement, service would end at Tullytown station. There also was an announcement that the railroad would spend $50,000 for a new railroad underpass at Levittown station to make things better for Tullytown residents.
The Levittown–Tullytown station opened on April 26 and the wife of Nelson Bean, a former ticket agent at Rahway station in New Jersey and resident of Levittown, became the ticket agent for the station.
In July 1953, the railroad announced that construction of the new underpass would begin within a few days after July 15. A contract was awarded by the Pennsylvania Railroad to James McGraw Company of Philadelphia and completion was expected by October. The new underpass would be long and shaped like an oval with plaster curved walls. It would be wide and high. By the end of July, it was expected that the construction would begin by the first week of August. However, due to underground springs being discovered under the tracks, the project was delayed. Instead, cement was installed in late January 1954 to prevent seeping water and the underpass would open on February 4, 1954.
Operation Levittown (1961–1966) On September 1, 1961, Bucks County, along with Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties all announced a deal with the city of Philadelphia to help bring more railroad and bus service various parts of the metropolitan area. Deemed the Southeastern Pennsylvania Compact (SEPACT), this agreement would subsidize the services, resulting in low fares from destinations to and from Philadelphia. The agreement came with three separate operational plans, starting with the station in Lansdale, then Paoli, followed by Levittown. The five counties would also work on getting funding under the 1961 Housing Act, which would allow $25 million (1961 USD) for mass transit. Bucks County officials signed the contract on September 5 and would be represented by two people on the committee overseeing the projects. The Levittown plans, dubbed "Operation Levittown", would focus on upgrading rail facilities along the Pennsylvania Railroad between Philadelphia and Trenton, but that any plans would wait until the similarly named "Operation Lansdale" showed any positive results before beginning Levittown work.