Jersey Avenue has a different layout than most New Jersey Transit stations. While it has two platforms, one for trains heading south toward Trenton Transit Center and one for trains heading north toward New York Penn Station, the northbound platform is not positioned across the track from the southbound platform as would normally be the case for most New Jersey Transit stations (especially those along the Northeast Corridor, which have a wider gap between platforms due to an extra track in each direction used by Amtrak). Instead, the northbound platform is set "behind" the southbound platform and the platforms are separated by a parking lot. With this layout, northbound trains from Trenton cannot service Jersey Avenue and thus bypass the station en route to New York. Some southbound trains do terminate at Jersey Avenue, using a siding that is also used by special northbound trains that originate at the station.