30th St. Station to be renamed the William H. Gray III 30th Street Station

Don’t call it 30th Street Station: Amtrak says it will finally change the historic train station’s name to the William H. Gray III 30th Street Station.

U.S. Senator Bob Casey, one of the local leaders who has fought for the name change along with the William H. Gray III Memorial Committee, made the announcement on Friday afternoon, Philly Voice reported. Casey met that week with Amtrak, which also confirmed the decision.

The name change comes three years after Congress passed legislation to rename the station after the late Congressman Bill Gray. President Barack Obama signed off on the name change in August 2014.

But after three years, Amtrak made no official moves to rename 30th Street Station. On September 29, state and city officials gathered in front of the station to call on Amtrak put the law into action. Mayor Jim Kenney was one of the proponents, saying, “Thirtieth Street Station is the first impression many people get of Philadelphia. That is why we believe it is appropriate that this building honor a man who fought so hard for our values on Capitol Hill.”

Soon after, Amtrak responded saying that it looked forward to working with the Gray family “on how to appropriately honor and fund the recognition of Congressman Gray’s service to this area.”

Gray, served as a U.S. representative for Pennsylvania’s 2nd congressional district from 1979 to 1991, and later became president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund.

There’s no clear timeline on when the name change will actually go into effect.

• Amtrak finally commits to rename 30th Street Station [Philly Voice]