Jefferson Station (SEPTA)

Jefferson Station
SEPTA regional rail station
11th Street entrance to Jefferson Station
General information
Location	12th and Filbert Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39.952076°N 75.156612°W / 39.952076; -75.156612
Owned by	SEPTA
Line(s)	Airport Line   Chestnut Hill East Line   Chestnut Hill West Line   Fox Chase Line   Lansdale/​Doylestown Line   Manayunk/​Norristown Line   Media/Elwyn Line   Paoli/​Thorndale Line   Trenton Line   Warminster Line   West Trenton Line   Wilmington/​Newark Line
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	Market–Frankford Line at 11th St. and 8th St.   Broad Street Line Ridge Spur at 8th St.   PATCO Speedline at 8th & Market Sts. SEPTA City Bus: 9, 17, 23, 33, 38, 44, 47, 47M, 48, 61, 62, 121 NJT Bus: 400, 401, 402, 404, 406, 408, 409, 410, 412, 414, 417 At Greyhound Terminal: NJT Bus: 313, 315, 316, 317, 318, 551 Greyhound Lines Bieber Tourways Trailways Transportation System (Capitol Trailways, Martz Trailways, Susquehanna Trailways) Peter Pan Bus Lines
Construction
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	C
History
Opened	November 1984
Previous names	Market East Station (1984-2014)
Services
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Jefferson Station (formerly Market East Station) is an underground SEPTA Regional Rail station located in the Market East neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its official SEPTA address is 12th and Filbert streets. It is the easternmost of the three Center City stations on the SEPTA Regional Rail system, and is part of the Center City Commuter Connection, which connects the former Penn Central commuter lines with the former Reading Railroad commuter lines. The station opened in November 1984, is owned and maintained by SEPTA, and replaced the former Reading Terminal, which a small part of the station is directly under. (The old terminal became part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.)

Building

The station is part of the Gallery at Market East, a shopping mall built as part of an urban renewal project in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There are several entrances to the station, including several on the concourse level to the "Gallery II" part of the mall. After the Convention Center was opened, a new entrance was built in the Reading Terminal headhouse on Market Street.

Architecturally, the design of Jefferson Station is integrated with the Gallery mall. Stainless steel and large plate-glass windows are a major design element, with large color tile murals (depicting the four seasons) adorning the walls and the extensive use of tile for flooring. The upper seating area has recently been renovated with metal benches facing the windows that look down onto the tracks. The large windows are used both for exterior windows, where they admit light from street level down to track level like a clerestory, and for separating the concourse level from the track level. Because this is an underground station and the clerestory section is only a small part of the station, artificial lighting is used throughout the station.

Name

The station's name was temporarily changed from Market East to Jefferson on September 4, 2014 after Thomas Jefferson University Hospital bought the naming rights in a five-year naming-rights deal. However, the renaming of stations has proven unpopular in Philadelphia and they usually retain their traditional names among locals.

Station

Station layout

B1	Concourse	Waiting area, ticketing, exits to the Gallery at Market East, Market Street, Filbert Street, Reading Terminal Market, PATCO(8th & Market), Broad-Ridge Spur(8th Street), Market-Frankford Line(11th St. and 8th St.)
B2 Track level	Track 1	← Manayunk/Norristown Line toward Norristown (Temple University) ← Fox Chase Line toward Fox Chase (Temple University) ← Lansdale/Doylestown Line toward Doylestown (Temple University)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Track 2	← Warminster Line toward Warminster (Temple University) ← West Trenton Line toward West Trenton (Temple University) ← Chestnut Hill East Line toward Chestnut Hill East (Temple University)
	Track 3	→ Media/Elwyn Line toward Elwyn (Suburban Station)→ → Wilmington/Newark Line toward Newark (Suburban Station)→ → Airport Line toward Airport (Suburban Station)→ → Chestnut Hill West Line toward Chestnut Hill West (Suburban Station)→
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Track 4	→ Trenton Line toward Trenton Transit Center (Suburban Station)→ → Paoli/Thorndale Line toward Thorndale (Suburban Station)→

The station extends under three city blocks and the platforms are along the northern edge of the blocks. The tracks here are the deepest ones in Philadelphia.

Tiled wall across from boarding platforms

There are several monitors which show the status of the trains at these entrances, as well as near the ticket windows and at the tops of the escalators to the track level. At least one of the ticket windows, which are located on the concourse level, is open daily.

Jefferson Station Platform

There are two wide island platforms and four tracks, with each platform serving two tracks. Each platform is divided into an "A" section and a "B" section so that trains on different routes stop at different spots along the platform length. This allows waiting passengers to be dispersed along the platform rather than congregating.

Rail layout

Overhead electric catenary wires supply power to the trains. Regularly scheduled diesel-operated trains are forbidden to enter the station, as SEPTA omitted provisions for ventilation fans when designing the Center City Tunnel. The Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers advocated for the inclusion of ventilation fans that would allow diesel exhaust fumes to exit tunnels and stations. SEPTA deemed the option unfeasible throughout the planning process. On occasion, SEPTA diesel work trains will pass through the station without stopping. In this situation, the track must be clear through the tunnel before the diesel train is allowed through.

To the west, the tracks have a set of cross-over tracks that allow trains to change tracks before they reach Suburban Station. To the east, there is a sharp curve north where trains are limited to about 20 to 25 mph (32 to 40 km/h), and then another set of cross-overs before climbing an incline of over 2.5% to Temple University Station. Jefferson Station is approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from Suburban Station.

Service

Jefferson Station is served by all Regional Rail lines except the limited-service Cynwyd Line, which terminates at Suburban Station. In FY 2005, the average total weekday boardings at this station was 11,848, making it the second busiest station in the Regional Rail system. Jefferson Station has also been identified as Amtrak's preferred Philadelphia station for future high-speed rail lines in the Northeastern Corridor.

Intermodal Connections

The station is connected underground to SEPTA's heavy rail Market-Frankford Line and Broad-Ridge Spur and also the PATCO High Speed Line at their shared 8th Street station. There are also below-ground pedestrian connections to the Market-Frankford Line's 11th Street, 13th Street, and 15th Street stations. Jefferson Station is adjacent to various SEPTA and New Jersey Transit bus routes that travel on Market Street. Finally, the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal is immediately north of the station across Filbert Street.

External links

Media related to Market East Station at Wikimedia Commons

• SEPTA – Market East Station
• 11th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Filbert Street and 10th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 10th Street entrance to Gallery Mall from Google Maps Street View