SEPTA’s Regional Rail will operate under a modified Saturday schedule as 120 of its trains are being repaired.
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The headaches for commuters come because of 120 of SEPTA’s Silverliner V trains being taken out of service because of the discovery of a structural defect.
With a third of the fleet out of service, commuters Tuesday had to cope with delayed and packed trains.
– SEPTA predicted Wednesday’s commute could be even more hectic than Tuesday’s, with more people returning to work after the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Commuters on SEPTA’s Regional Rail lines continued experiencing delays and overcrowded trains Wednesday, according to officials.
Denver’s train airport service uses cars similar to Philadelphia’s Silverliner V, and also made by Hyundai Rotem Co. Trains are running behind schedule, with delays ranging from a few minutes to over a half-hour.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is bolstering bus and trolley service and urging people to think about other options, especially getting to subway lines if they are close to the city.
The cracks were discovered Friday night in beams in the suspension system on its fleet of Hyundai Rotem-made Silverliner V rail coaches.
Riders who purchased passes for the week of July 4 or for the month of July can get a full refund if they mail their passes to SEPTA by July 7.
Stations closer to the Philadelphia, as anticipated, are feeling the biggest impact of SEPTA’s regional rail auto shortage.
The MBTA paid $190 million for the 75 cars, which were plagued with mechanical, engineering and software problems in 2014.
“It made it hard to get in after a long weekend”, said Lynne Suher, who left home 40 minutes earlier than normal for her ride to the city from the suburbs.
That leaves 13,000 fewer regional rail seats, reducing service by 30 percent to 50 percent.
The manufacturer of the cars, South Korea-based Hyundai Rotem, has flown in numerous engineers to begin examining the cracks with SEPTA officials and devising a plan to fix the cars. Hyundai Rotem spokesman Andy Hyer said the manufacturer is working “literally around the clock to get the cars back into service as soon as possible, safely and soundly”.
At least one other transit authority in the US has begun inspecting some of its rail cars since the train issues in Philadelphia came to light. “They are lighter. About 5,000 pounds lighter – so, about the size of an elephant – and we have different technology on our cars that they don’t”. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says it’s inspecting two of its older Hyundai coaches.
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The Silverliner V cars have had other problems since being put into service in 2010, but those problems were addressed and reliability of the cars has been good, said Ron Hopkins, SEPTA’s assistant general manager for operations.
