PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Morning express trains returned to SEPTA Regional Rail on Monday as more Silverliner IV railcars were placed back into service following federally mandated inspections and repairs.
SEPTA said the inspections and repairs, which began about three months ago, had reduced the available railcar fleet. Evening express service resumed in late November, but additional cars were needed to restore morning express trips. It’s a big step as the transit agency recovered from the railcar shortage that caused a lot of headaches for riders.
SEPTA added 24 morning express trains back on the schedule for the busiest Regional Rail lines. That includes Paoli-Thorndale, which now has three of those trains running.
Regular rider Caroline DeAngelis said having express back in the morning makes a big difference, she can get to the city quicker.
“It’s crucial. I work in health care, and my clinics start at a certain time, and I can’t be late for my patients," she said. "So I have to take a much earlier train to ensure that I get there in time. So it’s great that they’re back.”
It was a brutal few months for riders. They experienced cancellations and delays that piled up. Trains would be so full they would skip stations.
Caroline said one day was really bad.
“There were like issues on the train, and I took two and a half hours to get to West Philly.”
SEPTA said they can have morning express and more consistency now that 80% of the Silverliner cars that were pulled for inspections and repairs are back on the tracks. The agency is urging commuters to check the schedules online or on the app ahead of time, because some of the local trains have flipped back to express.
Meanwhile, relief also came for trolley riders, as well, as the Center City trolley tunnel reopened after months of repairs.
Gabriella Lopez is one of the 60,000 daily riders whose morning trolley commute had been upended due to the closure.
"It’s been literally tiring because I wake up early, and I have to deal with that early in the morning," she said.
Lopez’s commute starts at the Darby Transportation Center and ends in Center City, where she attends school, but because of the tunnel closure, she had to transfer to a shuttle from the trolley, which translated to a much longer commute.
"I usually wake up at 5 a.m. to get to where I need to go, and that means not getting a lot of sleep," Lopez said.
The tunnel has been closed since Nov. 13, when a replacement part damaged the overhead wires.
Now that the repair has been made, riders no longer have to transfer to a shuttle.
"That’s so much better because I can get to where I have to go so much faster, and that saves me a lot of time."