SEPTA renting 10 more train cars from Maryland to fill shorthanded Regional Rail trains
SEPTA officials say they understand Regional Rail riders' frustrations after another rough day for commuters in Philadelphia Thursday.
Signal issues brought the system to its knees right as the morning rush hour was beginning. On multiple lines, including the Fox Chase Line, Chestnut Hill West Line and Airport line, early morning trains inbound to Center City were canceled. Delays of up to 30 minutes were also reported across the rest of the system — causing a "cascade effect" of problems, officials said.
SEPTA Regional Rail was already experiencing disruptions and cancellations due to the ongoing inspection work on Silverliner IV railcars.
Thousands of Regional Rail riders have rolled with the punches, dealing with weeks of delays, cancellations and crowded trains.
"It's just unpredictable," said Mary Campbell, who added she's lucky if her train to Chestnut Hill is on time. "From something being canceled a few minutes before it's supposed to arrive, or they say expect something early or late. Well, that's a little tough, too."
The Federal Railroad Administration ordered SEPTA to inspect all of the railcars following five fires on the model since February. Federal officials initially gave SEPTA until Oct. 31 to complete the inspections, but that deadline was extended until Friday.
Andrew Busch, a SEPTA spokesperson, said Thursday that the transit authority expects to meet that extended deadline.
"Making sure we're trying to be as up front as we possibly can with our customers about what's going on, when we can, doing things like we've done this week, pre-canceling trips, which is not ideal in any circumstance," Busch said. "But we had a choice: We can either make these pre-cancellations and announce them, and try to give people a little time to prepare for them, or wait until the morning of, and start canceling when they're already on the platform."
Busch said 220 out of 223 Silverliner IV cars have finished inspection, and that 78 have been returned to service. However, two-thirds of the fleet is still out for maintenance. SEPTA was ordered to install thermal couplers on those trains and that work is still underway.
In the interim, SEPTA is renting 10 railcars from Maryland Area Rail Commuter, a rail system serving Washington D.C. and Baltimore. Rail traffic along the Northeast Corridor will have to be coordinated to allow the cars to come up to SEPTA's service area, and the cars could arrive as soon as next week.
SEPTA says it's expecting to ramp up service when 140 Silver Liner IV cars are slowly returned to the system. In the meantime, passengers are asked to be patient.