PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With Friday’s deadline quickly approaching, SEPTA said it has only completed fire inspections on about half of its Silverliner IV rail car fleet. The transit agency is asking for a two-week extension.
At the beginning of the month, the Federal Railroad Administration said SEPTA had until Oct. 31 to inspect its fleet of 50-year-old cars following five Regional Rail electrical fires earlier this year.
As of Wednesday, 108 of 223 cars have been inspected. At a pace of about eight cars a day, SEPTA will need more time to finish inspecting its fleet.
“The math is pretty obvious there that we will not hit that finished inspection schedule by Friday,” said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in Philadelphia last week, did not specify any consequences if SEPTA misses the deadline.
Of the more than 100 cars that have been inspected, 35 have been returned to service, while the rest remain in the shop for minor repairs.
“We’re completing some minor repairs on those vehicles, but we do expect that the number of vehicles inspected and back into service will continue to increase,” Busch said.
Commuters have endured delays and packed trains during the inspections. Busch said SEPTA has been able to restore some Regional Rail capacity, but a significant number of packed trains are still passing by stops.
SEPTA is still trying to secure rail cars from other transit agencies to ease the ongoing crunch.