Station Review #139: West Trenton (SEPTA)


West Trenton is the terminus station on SEPTA's West Trenton Line. The station is located at 3 Railroad Avenue in Ewing Township, NJ. This station is located in the small village of West Trenton. 


History

West Trenton Station was built at least as far back as 1929 as an infill station. For a long time, West Trenton was a normal station along the Reading line from Philadelphia to Jersey City. Services such as the Wall Street and the Crusader ran that route, all terminating at the now nonexistent Communipaw Terminal, where passengers would then take a ferry at the nearby Weehawken Terminal into New York City. 

In the 1960s, a new track connection was built for the Reading line that allowed trains to go onto the PRR main line, which meant that a new service pattern arose, with trains taking the Reading line between Reading Terminal and Newark Penn station. It got passed onto SEPTA, and then was broken into two lines at West Trenton in 1981, with NJT running the other half of the line. Unfortunately, this arrangement onpy lasted a year, with NJT ceasing operations on the line in 1982. To this day trains only run to West Trenton from Philadelphia. There have been plans to bring back the NJT West Trenton Line, to no avail so far. 

In 2009, the depot was sold and comverted into offices and a private residence. West Trenton became a single platform terminus. On September 18th, 2025, the waiting room on the remaining platform at West Trenton was closed "until further notice" due to vandalism. 

Tour

Train!

West Trenton is... not great, for lack of a better way to describe it.

The tracks

In the distance is the old depot, of which the stairs and tunnel to it still remain.


The platform

It's hard to tell where the platform even ends here. 

Parking

Old Reading signage

The platform again

An announcement for schedule changes? 

Inside the waiting room

Back while the waiting room still existed, it was incredibly bare-bones. All there was here was a thin bench that wrapped around the inside of the room. No ticket office, no TVMs, no notices, nothing. Now not even that is there. 

Alternate staircase

Bus Connections

There's only one bus connection, and it's from NJT:

608 - Ewing-Trenton-Hamilton: This bus is essentially two routes in one, both of them going from Capital Health Medical Center Hopewell to Trenton Transit Center and then to Hamilton station. The more frequent variation goes via Grand Avenue/Sullivan Way and passes by the train station once every half hour. The other variant instead bypasses that road and goes along River and Upper Ferry roads, stopping at the New Jersey State Police headquarters and Museum. These variants only run once an hour and stop running at 6 pm. The 608 bus used to be a partial loop route until it was extended, and now is much easier to understand and use, making it a more convenient connection. 


Points of Interest near West Trenton station


There's not much nearby. The station itself is in a weirdly rural area. West Trenton is a very small place, a town that clearly developed along the railroad. All that's here are a few houses, a few convenience stores, and a gas station. These are all a 10 minute walk away. You could get to Trenton-Mercer Airport or the Hopewell hospital, but these generally require the 608 bus. If one were to look immediately nearby the station, they would find nothing but farms, fields, and forests. Despite the location, this is weirdly rural. 

Statistics


Name: West Trenton
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): West Trenton Line
Locality: West Trenton
Municipality: Ewing Township
County: Mercer
State: New Jersey
Ridership:  371 riders per average weekday (2024)


Amenity Checklist


Accessible: ×
Bathrooms: ×
Bicycle parking: × (According to SEPTA, there is, but I didn't see any when I explicitly looked for some). 
Clean Station: ×
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage for each side: ×
Existence is justifiable:  ✓
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): ×
Good Wayfinding: ×
Indoor Shelters: ×
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓
Safe to use: ×
Seating: ✓
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ×
TVMs: ×
Ticket Offices: ×
TOD: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (countdown clocks):  ×
Updated/Useful Signage: ×

Final verdict: 1.5/10

Station Directory


--------Pennsylvania--------
--------Philadelphia County--------
''''''''Center City Zone''''''''
Penn Medicine
30th Street
Suburban
Jefferson (Market East)
Temple University
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
Fern Rock Transportation Center
--------Montgomery County--------
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Melrose Park
Elkins Park
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
Jenkintown/Wyncote
Noble
Rydal
Meadowbrook
Bethayres
Philmont
--------Philadelphia County--------
Forest Hills
Somerton
--------Bucks County--------
Trevose
Neshaminy Falls
''''''''Zone 4''''''''
Langhorne
Woodbourne
Yardley
--------New Jersey--------
--------Mercer County--------
''''''''NJ Zone''''''''
West Trenton

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