After a court order was issued to reverse SEPTA's service cuts and capital project funding was approved to cover daily expenses, SEPTA will be nearly back to normal as of this weekend.

On Sunday, about half of the SEPTA bus, trolley and train routes that were shortened or eliminated will be fully restored, but a 21.5% fare hike also takes effect. The rest of the routes will be restored on Monday, Sept. 15.

Over the past few days, about 3,000 service reduction signs have been removed and replaced with new updated schedules at stations. SEPTA says employees will also begin new schedules on Sunday as service slowly gets back to normal.  

Riders could be paying anywhere from an extra 40 cents to $2 per fare, and if you frequently ride SEPTA, that cost will add up.

Instead of paying $2.50 to ride the bus or subway, you'll be paying $2.90. A Regional Rail ticket will now cost you anywhere from $5 to $13.

"I just think it's a little bit too much especially for the lower-class people," said June Somers, who rides SEPTA every day.

"I don't know what the stipulations with the budget are, but why should it effect the consumer," said Harry Lundy, who also relies on SEPTA to get around the city.

"I mean I'm not happy about spending more money, but you have to get to work," said Alexis Santarelli.  

This is all happening after a judge ordered SEPTA to reverse major service cuts it made to plug a $213 million budget gap. In response to that, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro directed PennDOT to approve SEPTA's request to use $394 million in capital funds to cover the cost of daily operations.

SEPTA is preparing for Sunday's switchover by changing thousands of employees' schedules, updating its signals system and printing out new timetables for passengers.

"This Sunday, Sept. 14, we will begin restoring service across our bus, metro and Regional Rail systems. This is a big undertaking, and I know there will still be some confusion as we make the transition," SEPTA general manager Scott Sauer wrote in a letter posted online. "As you may know, SEPTA usually updates its schedules once every few months, and it takes time to prepare riders and employees with new work schedules, signage, timetables and navigational tools. Over the past month, we've changed schedules three times already, sometimes with only a few days' notice."

Sauer added it will take time for the transit authority to take down the more than 3,000 service reduction signs across the five counties.

SEPTA restored service schedules: When is my bus or train route getting restored?

The latest information on the restoration of routes will be available on this page on SEPTA.org. 

SEPTA says all Regional Rail service will be restored Sunday, but restorations to bus, subway and trolley service will happen over two days.

These bus and metro routes will be fully restored as of Sunday, Sept. 14:

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 47M, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84, 88, 89, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 124, 129, 130, 131, 132, 135, BLVDDIR, K, B (Broad Street Line), G (Route 15), L (Market-Frankford Line), T1 (Route 10), T2 (Route 34), T3 (Route 13), T4 (Route 11), T5 (Route 36)

These bus and metro routes will be fully restored as of Monday, Sept. 15:

1, 8, 19, 62, 78, 80, 90, 92, 95, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 133, 139, 150, 201, 204*, 206, 310*, 409, 411, 415, 426, 428, 433, 438, 439, 441, 442, 445, 446, 447, 448, 450, 452, 461, 462, 475, 476, 477, 478, 484, 490, 492, 495, LUCY, D1/D2* (Media-Sharon Hill Line), M (Norristown High Speed Line)  

4 routes not going back to normal this weekend

A few routes will not be quite back to normal as of Sept.15. Route 204, a bus from Eagleview to Paoli, will follow its summer schedule until Sept. 27 and be on a new schedule on Sept. 28.

Routes 310 and 311 have been combined and will stay combined. The new Route 310 from Willow Grove to Horsham incorporates parts of the old Route 311.

The D1 and D2 trolleys in Delco will stay on their temporary schedule until signal system maintenance is resolved.

Legislator wants SEPTA to call off fare hike

State Sen. Vincent Hughes is calling on SEPTA to cancel this planned fare hike because he fears Philadelphians won't be able to afford it.

In a letter sent Thursday to SEPTA leaders, he wrote that this is the second price hike in nine months, and SEPTA's subways and buses will now be as expensive to ride as New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

SEPTA declined to comment in response to that letter, but a spokesperson said the authority's board chair will be writing a response.