PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed the finger at SEPTA's management for their safety problems after a Tuesday meeting. Federal leaders are now asking the transit agency to inspect their trolley cars, in addition to the ongoing checks of Regional Rail trains.
Duffy said SEPTA’s “mismanagement” led to ongoing issues including fires and outdated equipment. He met with SEPTA leadership and local officials, including Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle Parker, to talk about next steps for the transit agency.
“We could have shut the system down. We did not want to shut the system down. Too many people rely on SEPTA to get in and out of the city,” said Duffy. “You can't have a transit system that is not safe, that has fires, that's undercapitalized and mismanaged.”
Among their concerns, Duffy and other federal agencies said SEPTA’s 45-year-old overhead trolley system led to what they called “four significant emergencies,” including one in September where overhead wires fell on a trolley in Delaware County, injuring 11 people.
Federal Transit Administrator Marc Molinaro said his agency issued an emergency action letter to SEPTA about the trolleys. “That requires them to conduct an inspection of the entire overhead cantonary system to identify the extent of the problem. We believe it is pretty broad,” he said.
According to Molinaro, inspections of SEPTA’s roughly 120 trolley cars must be completed by Friday, Nov. 7. The deadline for Regional Rail inspections is next Friday, Nov. 14.
“Really, the issue with the Silverliner fires has been a management issue and a maintenance issue, not a money issue,” said Molinaro. “All five fires, through a root cause analysis, we found were caused by maintenance issues.”
Shapiro called the conversation constructive. “I made clear that I'm prepared to work with the administration if they want to put some funding in and support for SEPTA, which is sorely needed, and we're going to work together on that,” he said.
“We could easily play politics,” said Duffy. “The governor could, we could. That is not what we've chosen to do. We've chosen to work together to team up and find an answer for the riders of Philadelphia.”
SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said a focus on safety led to leadership changes after Scott Sauer became general manager in June.
“We are happy to have the engagement of the government as well as our partners at the state and local level. We want to get better,” said Busch. He maintained their trolley overhead systems have been checked often, and said he believed they would meet Friday’s inspection deadline.