Station Review #26: Chinatown (SEPTA)


Chinatown is a station on SEPTA's Broad Ridge Spur Line, the only station that's completely unique to the Broad-Ridge Spur, especially since the closing of Spring Garden (BRS).

Tour
I tried, okay?

There's not much here. The station has what you'd expect of a Broad Ridge Spur station. Two tracks, platforms, a lack of seating, tiles, etc. The platforms are way too long for the trains that use them, though. That might be an issue...

Another look at the platforms

Much unlike some BSL stations, Chinatown has no interesting mosaic patterns on the walls, or really much at all, besides the station name being written in English and Mandarin Chinese (please correct me if I'm wrong on that). For some reason, the station feels off though, like something is wrong with it...

Rusty stairs

Something is in fact wrong with Chinatown station. Many somethings, actually. It's unfortunate how much this station is actively deteriorating right before our eyes. 

More rust

The station has stylized vents, but those too, are rusty. 

Apr 06, 2023  4:18pm, the clock reads

At least it has clocks, but I wish those were countdown clocks. Unfortunately, those do not exist on any of the SEPTA heavy rail lines. 

Ouch. 

While walking up the rusty stairs, a friend that was there with me spotted this little bit of structural damage to the station. This is very obviously water damage, which ties in even more to the rust on the metal stairs and the metal vents. I have a feeling that this place flooded at some point, and then could not be fixed due to a lack of money. And now, the station is rotting. It doesn't help that the station also has issues with leaks, as well. 

Upstairs

Leaks and possible flooding aside, we eventually made it upstairs where we saw the cramped space of the mezzanine area. This small space on the other side of the faregates was small enough to start to trigger my claustrophobia issues, and I wanted to be out as fast as I could be. This space is small and uncomfortable, and I dislike it. 

That definitely doesn't help

The faregates definitely didn't help with alighting the feeling that the space itself gave off, quite the opposite actually! It's so small a space with faregates like that, I heavily dislike it. 

You can tell the station is small when they have to put the key card kiosk outside of the building 

And finally, we were free! But the station doesn't stop there! Nope, it gets worse! In fact, there is something directly around the station that made it even more odd of a station. 

Parking

That's right! this station is a park and ride! A park and ride station, in Center City. They could have made this into a large and very pretty park surrounding the station, a destination unto itself! But no, instead, we need a giant park and ride in the middle of Chinatown for the line. What a disgrace. 

Bus Connections 
Sign

Chinatown station has three bus connections: 

• Route 47: Whitman Plaza to 5th - Godfrey bus loop. This bus route has the highest ridership of any bus route in SEPTA's entire network, and the third highest of any route in the entire system. 

• Route 47M: Whitman Plaza to 7th and Spring Garden via 9th Street. This bus route only goes in one direction. 

• Route 61:  Flat Rock bus loop to 8th and Locust. This bus route basically makes the Broad-Ridge Spur mostly useless, and is useful because so many people don't know it exists. 


Points of Interest Near Chinatown station

• Chinatown is itself a point of interest. The neighborhood has a lot of things to do, a lot of stores, a lot of restaurants, and outside of having had an expressway forcefully placed in a place that cut up the community, it's a really good example of urbanism

• Temple University also has the Temple school of Podiatric Medicine here, a block away. 

Amenity Checklist

Accessible: ×
Bathrooms: ×
Clean Station: ×
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ✓
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): ✓
Indoor Shelters: ✓
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Adequate Parking: × (Why does it need so much?)
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ×
Ticket Kiosks (if applicable): ✓
Ticket Offices: ✓
TOD: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ×
Updated Signage: ✓

Final Verdict: 3/10

Station Directory

Olney Transportation Center
Erie
Girard
Fairmount (Lower Platform)
Chinatown
8th Street

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