RIDLEY PARK, P.A. (KYW Newsradio) — “Sluggish” train cars that were “not getting up to speed” were behind the massive SEPTA Regional Rail fire in Delaware County back on Feb. 6, according to a preliminary report on the incident released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The train caught fire just after it left the Crum Lynne Station on the Wilmington/Newark Line around 6 p.m. Four crew members and 325 passengers were on board when the fire happened, and all were able to evacuate safely before the blaze spread.
According to the NTSB report, issues began for the train that began its trip in West Trenton as it was stopped at the Bethayres Station. The crew’s engineer called the Regional Rail Operations Control Center around 3:50 p.m. to report that the train was acting “sluggish” and “not getting up to speed.”
The engineer also reported that a fault light was lit on the train’s control panel, indicating a problem.
The dispatcher at the control center called a maintenance team to check the train when it got to SEPTA’s Roberts Yard in North Philadelphia.
When the maintenance team finished its inspection, it reported that three of the cars were “bad,” causing it to move slowly. Despite this, the NTSB report said the train continued to operate.