PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA is getting some extra time to finish fire inspections on its Regional Rail cars.
The Federal Railroad Administration has granted SEPTA's request for a two-week extension of the deadline to inspect its fleet of 223 Silverliner IV rail cars. A little more than half of the fleet has been inspected so far. SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch says this gives the transit agency until Nov. 14.
"We are confident that we can finish these inspections in that time. We're going to continue working diligently around the clock," he said.
The FRA is also giving SEPTA until Dec. 5 to install thermal protection units to provide an alert if a train's electrical systems run too hot. Busch says these developments allow SEPTA to slowly put more cars into service.
"It's going to be gradual improvements, but we do expect our rail car availability to improve, and that's going to improve service for our customers."
In the meantime, SEPTA is trying to buy or lease cars from other transit agencies.