SEPTA is getting 10 train cars Friday from the Maryland Area Regional Commuter Rail to bolster its Regional Rail service, which has been disrupted by ongoing repairs to its Silverliner IV fleet.
SEPTA officials said the MARC cars will be used "where needed" on the Regional Rail lines, and that reliability should "gradually improve," but repairs to the Silverliner cars have been delayed due to supply issues. The transit authority said this week that it will not meet a federally-mandated deadline to add thermal sensors to its Silverliner IV cars, because there is a shortage of wire needed to complete the repairs.
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Amtrak is transporting the MARC cars from Union Station in Washington to 30th Street Station, but they won't hit the rails until SEPTA inspects them and trains its crews. That process could take up to two weeks, 6ABC reported.
Last week, Gov. Josh Shapiro directed PennDOT to send SEPTA nearly $220 million funding from the state's Public Transit Trust Fund so the transit authority could complete various capital projects. SEPTA is partially using that funding to lease the MARC cars for one year and repair its Silverliner IV cars, which are among the oldest in the country and have been prone to electrical fires.
"Thanks to the Governor's continued support of SEPTA, we can enhance safety and reliability on Regional Rail," SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said. "We are also grateful for MARC's partnership on this lease agreement. This has been an extremely difficult time for our Regional Rail riders and the MARC cars will allow us to add much-needed capacity for our customers."
A federally-mandated inspection of the Silverliner IV cars has left dozens of cars out of service and awaiting repairs. Regional Rail riders have experienced delays, skipped stops and crowded trains for weeks due to the inspections and repair works.
Last week, SEPTA said it was on track to restore full service by Christmas.
On Friday, spokesperson Kelly Green said the installations of the thermal sensors are not expected to cause "any significant service impacts."
SEPTA needed 39,000 feet of wire for the entire fleet and as of Friday morning, 7,000 is still needed to complete the project. That leaves 30 to 35 cars that still need to be fully repaired, Greene said.
SEPTA has been working closely with the Federal Railroad Administration, Greene said. The FRA has waived the need for SEPTA to file for a deadline extension. SEPTA expects a shipment of the wire to arrive next week
"Any cars that do not have the thermal wire installed by the end of today will be sidelined until they have it," Greene said. "We expect to finish the rest of the installations within the next couple of weeks. We do not anticipate any significant service impacts related to the thermal wire installations."
This story has been updated to include remarks from SEPTA.