PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA has issued a warning and an apology to riders: Travel disruptions on the Regional Rail will likely continue for several weeks as the transit agency pulls train cars out of service for inspections.
This comes in response to last week’s recommendation from federal transportation officials. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration advised SEPTA that it needs to take action after a series of fires on its Silverliner IV rail cars earlier this year.
Overcrowded trains passed stops as 55 Regional Rail trains were canceled during Monday morning’s rush. SEPTA said 12 trains were canceled on Tuesday while Silverliner IV cars were inspected.
SEPTA said it has already made progress with dozens of mitigation efforts since the first fire in February. However, federal officials are requiring it to conduct emergency safety inspections.
SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said inspecting the fleet could create weeks — not days — of disruption.
“We’re committed to making sure that we’re providing safe service for our customers and that we’re meeting the requirements of the [Federal Railroad Administration],” he said. “It’s likely to be into weeks in terms of the impact to customers.”
SEPTA is also trying to get to the root cause of the fires on the Silverliner IV cars, which are about 50 years old — some of the oldest still in operation in the country. The Silverliner IV cars make up about two-thirds of SEPTA’s fleet.
Busch said SEPTA is spreading its available fleet by running four cars on trains that normally have six. Right now, 156 of SEPTA’s 225 Silverliner IV cars are in the shop.