SEPTA buys 24 railcars from Canadian transit system for Regional Rail
SEPTA is adding more railcars to its Regional Rail fleet, buying 24 used Bombardier Comets passenger trains from the Montreal public transportation system, Exo.
Exo approved SEPTA's $8.58 million bid for the coach cars at its March board meeting, according to a news release. Funding comes from the roughly $220 million allocated by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro last year to support safety and infrastructure upgrades.
"We are grateful for Gov. Shapiro's continued support of SEPTA, and we are committed to continuing to deliver improvements for our customers," SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said in a statement. "These additional railcars will help us enhance reliability and expand capacity for our customers while we work toward replacing our aging Regional Rail fleet."
SEPTA said the Bombardier railcars will operate within its existing fleet of ACS-64 electric locomotives. The used railcars were originally manufactured in the late 1980s, according to SEPTA.
The transit authority aims to release a timeline of when the railcars will be placed into service later this spring.
The purchase comes as SEPTA continues to recover after five of its Silverliner IV railcars caught fire last year.
SEPTA was ordered by the Federal Railroad Administration to inspect all 233 of its Silverliner IV fleet after the fires.
Regional Rail service was impacted during the inspections, leading to delays and service suspensions on the line.
Federally-mandated inspections on the Silverliner IV fleet were completed on Nov. 14, 2025, and evening express service returned 10 days later. Morning express service returned in January.
Earlier this year, SEPTA rented 10 railcars from Maryland Area Rail Commuter, a rail system serving Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and placed the trains into service.
