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Opening date set for Philly's Rail Park

Time to get in locomotion. Philly's Rail Park is opening in June.

Michael Garden, vice chair of the Friends of the Rail Park, checks on the progress of the park’s first section, which begins at North Broad Street.
Michael Garden, vice chair of the Friends of the Rail Park, checks on the progress of the park’s first section, which begins at North Broad Street.Read moreInga Saffron / Staff

An opening date has been set for Philadelphia's long-awaited Rail Park.

The grand opening for the first phase of the park will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 14, according to organizers.

The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting at 13th and Noble Streets in North Philadelphia to mark the occasion.

Though plans are to have the trail eventually extend three miles on the abandoned Reading Viaduct, just a quarter-mile stretch — which was built at a cost of $10.3 million — is completed and set to open next month.

>> READ MORE: The first piece of the Reading Viaduct rail park opens in June. Then what? | Inga Saffron

While ideas for a park along the rail line began in the early 2000s, work didn't start until about six years ago. The project has faced delays; an opening previously planned for February was pushed back several months.

Last week, the Friends of the Rail Park named Kevin Dow, who previously worked for the United Way, as its first executive director, according to Plan Philly.