SEPTA Regional Rail Express Service Has Resumed

By Robby Chakler | North Penn Now

SEPTA resumed Regional Rail morning express service from the suburbs into Center City on Monday, bringing relief to thousands of commuters who have faced longer and more crowded trips for months.

The express trains had been suspended as the transit agency dealt with a shortage of rail cars following federally mandated inspections of its Silverliner IV fleet after several onboard fires. SEPTA officials said more rail cars have now been cleared to return to service, allowing express trains to resume weekday operations.

Commuters welcomed the return of the faster service, saying the absence of express trains significantly disrupted daily travel to work and school.

“This is a major step toward restoring normal service on Regional Rail,” said SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer. “The return of morning express trips will optimize all service by enabling us to more efficiently serve high-volume stations, which will reduce crowding and resulting delays and pass-ups on local trains.”

SEPTA was able to restore evening express trips in late November; however, more railcars were needed before express trips could return in the morning. Up until now, the best option for providing as much service as possible throughout the system during the busy morning commute has been to run all service as local – meaning all trains stop at all stations.

Following the start of the FRA-mandated inspections on Oct. 1, SEPTA converted all scheduled morning express trains to local. This totals 24 morning trips across six of SEPTA’s most heavily traveled lines, including Paoli/Thorndale, Media/Wawa, Lansdale/Doylestown, Manayunk/Norristown, Wilmington/Newark and West Trenton.

To date, repairs have been completed on 180 of the 223 50-year-old railcars, which make up approximately two-thirds of SEPTA’s total Regional Rail fleet.

“SEPTA has committed to enhanced inspection and maintenance routines for these aging railcars to ensure safe and reliable service as we work through a multi-year process to purchase a replacement fleet,” Sauer said. “The railcars we have returned to service are performing extremely well, and we expect that to continue moving forward.”

Trolley Tunnel Returns

In addition to the return of express service, SEPTA also reopened the Center City trolley tunnel early Monday morning. The tunnel, which runs beneath Center City and connects to West Philadelphia near the University of Pennsylvania, had been closed since mid-November for emergency infrastructure repairs following failed upgrades.

SEPTA officials said trolley service through the tunnel resumed at 5 a.m., though overnight closures will continue through February as crews complete additional repair work.

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