PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA says regional rail riders should see more train cars and fewer delays this month.
The transit agency admits a return to normal service has been slower than expected. Regional rail riders were told that the shortened trains and skipped stops caused by a shortage of regional rail cars would ease by the end of the year. But the regional rail car shortage isn't quite over, said SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch.
"Certainly there are still a number of two-car trains out there. And we know that that's still creating capacity issues and leading to some pass-ups," Busch told KYW Newsradio.
Busch said after last fall's federally mandated inspections and repairs, about eight Silverliner IV cars per day are going back into service this week, and that longer trains are being deployed where they're most needed.
"We have added more three, four, and even some five-car trains that are out," Busch said. "Maybe not the full capacity that we were at before. But within a week or so, we should be back to a service level that customers are more accustomed to."
Busch said thermal detection units have now been installed in 210 of the 223 sidelined Silverliner IVs. Overall, 180 are back on the tracks while the rest await other repairs.
To ease the car shortage, SEPTA is also leasing ten coach cars from Maryland's MARC commuter rail system.
"We're probably a couple of weeks away from those being out. A little bit behind our initial projection on that, but those will be out in service soon," Busch said.
Busch said since the inspections and repairs were ordered, regional rail ridership has dipped by seven percent.
"It does concern us anytime ridership goes down," Busch said. "It's going to be up to us to make sure that we're reaching out to riders, making sure that they're clear with information about the work that we've done to try to bring service levels back up."
Starting Monday, Jan. 8, Busch said SEPTA would be bringing back all its express train services on regional rail, which will go a long way in reducing evening passenger loads and high volume at stations.