The New Jersey Patco: The Fastest but Not the Cheapest Way to Get to Philadelphia

As a New Jersey resident, I've ridden the New Jersey Patco for quite some time, and it's been a great experience. But it does have some drawbacks. Below I will discuss the New Jersey Patco high-speed line, a good way to get to Philadelphia

I've caught the New Jersey Patco from three places. I used to live in Pennsauken, and when I did, I would take the speed line to the Broadway station and pick the Patco up there. But now I live in Haddonfield. So sometimes I'll catch the train at Ferry Ave and sometimes I'll catch it at the Haddonfield Patco station.

The stations are all pretty similar so there's really no need to describe each one. The trains come every ten minutes during the rush hours in the morning which go from about 7-9:30 am. When I go to buy my ticket each morning, a cashier who is surprisingly pleasant at 6:30 in the morning greets me. I like going to buy my ticket from the window because Patco has these machines that are very annoying.

The machines have to be used when the cashier is not at the window, and the Patco cashiers are not required to be at the window all of the time. So before 6:30, they aren't there. And you might not catch them there are other random times throughout the day. I'm sure they have a set schedule though, but the point is that you're more like to have to use the machine than not.

The ticket machine is annoying because it only takes change. There's a machine that turns bills into change right next to the ticket machines, but often it spits bills out because they have been folded or are a little wrinkled. So you could miss your train while trying to smooth your bill out so the change machine will take it. And if you walk in there with a twenty, you will have walk out with 15 or so dollars worth of loose change in your wallet after you've bought the ticket. They recently came out with some new machines that take bills, but they still only give change back in coins.

Once you get on the train, you're in for a speedy ride to Philadelphia. It takes about 10-15 minutes, but of course that depends on where you catch the train. It could take longer if you are coming from Lindenwold or some place like that. However, those stations aren't really too busy in terms of people going in the Philadelphia direction.

In addition to fast, the ride is also not too bad in terms of comfort. The seats are hard rather than soft, but the train is relatively clean, and the people who ride it are usually quiet.

So that's what riding New Jersey Patco is like. It needs to get its ticket system together, but that bit of hassle is worth getting to Philly very quickly and without having to deal with city traffic.