Jefferson Station

The station was convenient to the old city, Independence National Park and the Reading Terminal Market. Compared to Chicago, Philadelphia’s electrified commuter rail provides more frequent and faster service, and serves multiple stops in Central Philadelphia. The connection to the airport was direct and on time, although considering the distance to the airport, the speed was slow. The problem was with signage and ticket sales. Tickets had to be purchased from a sales agent (by the way there are none at any of the airport stations) as no ticket vending machines are available and tickets cannot be downloaded to smartphones. The agent was useless for providing directions to the correct platform. Signage in terms of fares, schedules and which train is arriving is severely lacking. Having the arriving train flashing on the display over the correct track would be very useful, as numerous lines use the same platforms and trains can change platforms at the last minute. There is no color coding of lines as most transit agencies use, and signage on the trains is hit and miss. Some trains have electronic displays, while others have a small black and white card placed near one door which is impossible to read unless the sign happens to stop right in front of you. SEPTA desperately needs a technology and signage upgrade for its regional rail system.

Good location, it’s right in center city and across the street from the bus terminal. It can use some updating though. It is a bit confusing to navigate, especially finding the ticket offices. It’s not as impressive as 30^th st station.
Tip: if you need to get here from 30^th St Station (or Suburban or Temple University stations), Septa regional rail is free within center city. Only if you travel within these stations (but not out) they don’t check for tickets, so you can save the $ 2.25 from the subway

Jefferson station is my usually arrival point when I visit Philadelphia. Overall, it’s a great location. The greyhound station is directly outside and Chinatown is just a stone throw away. Additionally, Jefferson Station is attached to a mall call The Gallery. The mall in question has a few stores, but also a lot of vacant spaces. I notice they often have one of the two bathrooms closed, which isn’t always the best news after a long train ride. Lastly, the Pa Convention center is upstairs as well as the hard rock café. As far as train stations are concerned, Jefferson Station has more going on than most in the near by area.

I must say this station is the best out of all that is in the down town area, I love that they have free Wi-​Fi and I seem to get better signal in this station than suburban station.
and to top it off its right above the gallery mall so you have options on places to eat and browse.
this station is definitely up kept, I’ve never had to use the restroom so I can’t tell you how clean or dirty they are.

As far as major urban train stations go Jefferson (formerly Market East) isn’t that impressive, especially if you compare it to majestic stations like 30^th St or Grand Central in NYC.
But Jefferson has a lot going for it. First it is relatively spacious and never feels overly crowded. There are beautifully tiled rainbow walls, a mall right inside the station, and reading terminal market right across the street. It is also kept clean and is well signed.
Way better than Suburban Station.

Cleaned train station I have ever seen. Philadelphia public transportation is very nice, with clean cars and stations. The Jefferson Station takes you directly to the downtown area and convention center. A few nice shops if you are in a hurry are a plus.

Station needs a good scrub down. Tile walkways are grimy. Power washer and acid, maybe… New Haundai trains are a nice welcome to the 1960 models they had been using.

The lady at the ticketing window was very nice and pleasant. I will warn you tourists though that I had an encounter with a dude who wanted to sell me a ticket for $ 5 or something and it was rather obvious that he was following me and looking to scam since he was outside, then watched me go in, waited for me to go down the stairs to approach me and said he bought two tickets for $ 10 and couldn’t use them but would sell to me for $ 5. Dude, you can’t pull a fast one on me. I know all the tricks of the trade from being in case management for seven years in the city of Chicago. But if you want to put your clown suit on, I can put mine on too and play hardball right back at you since I think it’s rotten that this guy is taking advantage of tourists like this. Anyway, if you’re a tourist and taking this stop and get stopped by someone just tell them no thanks and keep it moving.

There’s no vending machine to buy tickets — bizarre! You actually have to go to a window and talk to a real person!
Otherwise, clean and functional. There’s Philly Pretzel Factory and Cinnabon here.

Oh man. It had been a long time since I had last been here. Nothing ever changes! Tons of extremely, uhh, interesting people that kind of take over the inside of J-​Stat. There’s currently something burning upstairs and no one knows what is.
Oh well!
I do like that it’s easy to navigate. It’s absolutely impossible to get lost trying to find your track. It’s surprisingly pretty quiet as well. Reading Terminal Market is also right outside. Always a fun time.
I used to choose this station as my layover point when I lived in Roxborough and commuted to Warminster for work so I could wander around a bit before catching my next train… so it’s not that bad. I do have one found memory of eating a breakfast sandwich and having a homeless dude curse me out. It was all good though. I just kept rocking out with my headphones in my ears.
Wear headphones and keep to yourself… especially if you’re female.

Jefferson Station, formerly referred to as Market East (still listed under that name on some maps), is served by all of the major SEPTA commuter rail lines. Tickets can be purchased at the window, and credit cards are accepted. Employees are generally businesslike, and make very little small talk, as expected for transit agency workers. Train arrival times can be viewed on monitors, and are announced over the loudspeaker prior to arrival.
Maybe I’m oblivious, but I don’t find this station as God awful as some other reviewers. Sure, it’s no 30^th St. Station, and I’m sure it’s seen better days, but it could be worse. As others have mentioned, the decorative tiles on the platform walls are a nice touch, though the waiting area is pretty minimalist, and can be somewhat grungy.
While I’m sure there are homeless people who hang around this station, none of them have ever bothered me inside or outside of it. I’ve never seen anyone sleeping on the chairs, and I’ve never been asked for change. FWIW, I’ve only used this station in the late afternoon, and always enter via the 11^th St. entrance across from Reading Terminal Market. Perhaps I’d feel differently if I used this station in the evening.
For a station serving several of Philly’s major tourist attractions, including the convention center, Center City, and Old City, it could certainly be a lot nicer. Then again, Philly doesn’t seem to be very good at putting its best foot forward to visitors, in general. I suppose this station is right in line in that regard. 2.5 stars.

Cleaner than suburban station. Additionally, there seems to be more ticket lines. The connection to the Navy Yard is also highly desirable. Not situated in the best area, however. The worst travesty is that great stores, like Starbucks, have had to close here. Philly needs to learn a lesson from other major cities and transform their stations into hubs with better food and shopping amenities.

While not as pretty as some train stations in major US/​European cities — it’s streamlined, urban, and feels spacious. I like the colorful tiles on both sides of the tracks. It’s Market East in my heart!
Good:
Busy train station connected to a lot:
— Convention Center
— Reading Terminal Market
— Field House
— Hard Rock
— The Gallery (closed for renovation)
The cxn to Gallery was a nice indoor route during cold/​hot/​inclement weather.
Beats driving! Nothing express about the Vine or Schuylkill.
Relatively clean for such a busy location that caters to a large demographic (note, I haven’t used the restrooms here …)
Would be nice:
— Free Wifi on trains
— Cupholders in trains (I wish)
— Both ticket booths open during regular hours (sometimes only one is open)
The usual city warning: always be aware of your surroundings and please don’t stand too close to the platform edge!

Who paid who to rename this station, Jefferson Station? I guess if I had an extra $ 4 Million lying around I would want something named after me as well, if I give you $ 40 will you name a bench after me?
Supposedly, the $ 4 Million Septa received from Jefferson University Hospital will be used to update the entrances, bathrooms and to make other customer improvements to the station. Has anyone seen any updates?
I find the station to be clean and well laid out. What draws me to this station again and again is the convenience of it, it connects you to The Gallery, The Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market (my favorite).
I have never used the bathrooms here so I can’t speak to the cleanliness, however I find it hilarious that so many other Unilocalers have used the public bathrooms at this station. It’s a public restroom inside a train station y’all, you should lower your expectations or learn how to hold it a bit longer.
Philadelphia Septa is stuck in the past being the last Public Transit system using tokens and a paper ticketing system. There are a multitude of articles talking about ticketing updates, however the dates and deadlines have come and gone and still no updates — one day maybe (I’ll hold my breath). Who would want to give up those little paper tickets and joy of watching the Septa person use a hole punch to punch your ticket every time you ride?
Say what you will about Jefferson Station/​Market East, I’ve never had any issues, cleanliness is good, the ticketing system is functional for now and I can get from suburbia to downtown Philadelphia in 30 minutes — works for me.

Jefferson Station is definitely in the middle of the pack for the SEPTA train stations in the city. It’s got a great location and is very convenient for all Old City attractions, the Gayborhood, and the Convention Center (as it’s directly below the latter). Be sure to check your track number BEFORE you go down the steps/​escalator to the terminal, because they are grouped two to a staircase and they do not connect at track level.
My least favorite thing about this terminal is that even though there are about a thousand entrances, nearly all of them get locked around 9 or 10 PM. You need to use the direct entrances to get into the station at late hours. However, the station is nearly always filled with people and is fairly clean for a train station.
My favorite thing is when the train conductor forgets himself for a moment and calls it Market East (allowing me a taste of nostalgia for the pre-​branded name of the station).

So here’s the thing. SEPTA didn’t take over the regional rails until the 80s. Market East station was designed to be the centerpiece of a renewal scheme. New trains were going to be brought in to run the system more like the Paris RER or a German S-​Bahn system. Nearby lots were going to get new office towers, and the Gallery mall was designed to add office floors above.
Then Reagan happened, and a combination of recession and slashed funding ground those plans to a halt. SEPTA had to spend all of their money correcting decades of deferred maintenance from the Reading railroad, and developers looked west of city hall instead of east. No new trains, no new buildings and a new focus on west market made this area pretty blighted, and the convention center has only made a small dent in that.
In the end, we did get a pretty excellent train station out of it. Wide platforms and stairwells handle rush hour crowds with ease, and clear signage and announcements tell you where to go. With direct connections to both the Gallery food court and the Hard Rock Café and Fieldhouse Sportsbar above, this station has some of the best food amenities in the US. It’s no Grand Central Terminal, but we should be thankful for what we have.
Since I started taking the train to work, the Gallery has been the easiest part of my commute, and I’d much rather wait on the platform there than fight my way through traffic to park my car in the daily Schuylkill Expressway traffic jam. I’m curious to see how the turnstiles will be installed when SEPTA rolls out their electronic ticket system later this year, and hoping their new budgets quickly replaces the 40 year old trains they’ve kept in remarkably good shape.

How did this station fall so far?
In my early days in Philly, this station was almost new and great but then, The Gallery was booming, and I didn’t have to walk around the homeless to go somewhere. The walls were artistic and gave you something interesting to watch while waiting on the platform.
I think I remember more waiting in line for a TransPass, listening to the rude person behind the window over and over. Of course, that could have been any major station.
The last time I was here, I was amused that almost all of the suburban trains were on-​time, except the R6 (Trenton?), which almost always missed the NJT train to NYC by 5 or 10 minutes the years I rode it.
For SEPTA’s fanciest terminal, why is it so nasty? It looks good from a distance. I would expect the Concourse to be poorly cleaned because walking through there, you’d see all manner of people, but out in the bright lights of Market East, things should be clean. I suppose it’s just Gallery Grime, since The Gallery has fallen so far from the 1980s.
It makes me sad that Philly gets up and falls again, far too often. Still, SEPTA is going and moving people. When will it be pleasant again?

The location is convenient and it is a cheap and fast way to get the airport (6.50) each way.
However, the station is old and dirty and the entire Philly rail system is stuck in the 1970s. Who uses paper tickets anymore? And which major city still has conductors go around «stamping» your paper tickets?
Also, do not come here if you have an early morning flight alone. The moment you open the doors at 5am, you will first get a strong whiff of urine soaked clothes and nasty BO smells. Then you will look down and be amazed that there literally a CITY of homeless people sprawled out throughout the station. Careful not to wake any of them or roll over them with your suitcase! Reminds me of a scene from lord of the rings where the hobbits have to navigate around the sleeping ogres.
Lastly the stations are incredibly confusing and shows how dates the system is. Of you get on the incorrect train by accident, don’t expect to find out until you are outside of the city because… there are ZERO signs inside the train card which train you are actually on. dont expect any signs of what stop is next or where you are in the system either. The conductors YELLS out the station coming up, so if you can’t understand his mumbling or miss the one time he yells out your stop, your screwed.
Hopefully Philly will update its metro system to be equivalent to that of NYC/​SF/​DC but I have a feeling this will never happen with the poor state of the city’s finances.

Really nice decorative tiles on the walls. If you look at them closely and blur your eyes you will be transported to a calm, serene, outdoor scene. Do this. Often. Because if not, you will be subject to dreadfully dirty (or sometimes locked) bathrooms, harried commuters, and the homeless asking for change. While there is enough of a police presence to feel relatively safe, it’s hard to feel all that relaxed with all of the goings on around you… unless you stare at the tiles. Just don’t miss your train!
FYI– Market East Station is conveniently located adjacent to Reading Terminal Market, the Convention Center, The Gallery (scenic in it’s own special way), Chinatown, and the Greyhound Bus Station (Lord knows what awaits there).

Market East has put in some effort to improve itself. The bathrooms are being cleaned more frequently, staffing at the ticket window seems more consistent, and well let’s just give them credit for that.
What else do we have… easy access to the Gallery and Convention Center, a mosaic everyone comments on (at least on Unilocal!), and entrances from the outside which confuse the hell out of me (like which one will be open, especially when I am in a hurry to catch the last train of the night).
So yea, back to the rating. Three-​stars seems about right!