SEPTA will keep using old Regional Rail cars despite NTSB warning about risk of electrical fires

SEPTA will continue using its oldest Regional Rail train cars despite a warning from the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday that they pose "an immediate and unacceptable safety risk" following a series of electrical fires this year.

NTSB gave SEPTA an urgent recommendation to pull its Silverliner IV Regional Rail cars from service, calling their outdated design a threat to passenger safety unless the fleet is retrofitted or replaced. The Silverliner IV cars, which make up more than half of SEPTA's Regional Rail fleet, were introduced in the 1970s and previously had been used by the Reading Company railroad.

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NTSB officials cited five electrical fires that broke out in Silverliner IV cars going back to February, when a train caught fire in Ridley Park, Delaware County. All of the train's 325 passengers were evacuated and no injuries were reported.

Four more electrical fires have occurred on Silverliner IV cars since then: June 3 in Levittown, Bucks County; July 22 in Paoli, Chester County; Sept. 23 in Fort Washington, Montgomery County; and Sept. 25 in Philadelphia.

In NTSB's 11-page report, the agency said the fires appear to spread from exterior electrical compartments of the trains before entering occupied compartments. The trains were built before new federal fire safety standards were established in 1999 with designs that make such blazes less likely to occur and easier to prevent.

NTSB said its investigation is ongoing, but the preliminary findings led to a recommendation that SEPTA suspend use of Silverliner IV trains until the root cause for the fires is known and improved mitigation plans are in place.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said the transportation authority does not plan to remove the Silverliner IV cars from service. Sauer said SEPTA has implemented 40 mitigation measures since the February fire in consultation with NTSB and the Federal Railroad Administration.

"We are confident that we can safely continue service with the Silverliner IV fleet," Sauer said.

In light of NTSB's recommendations, SEPTA has added in-person inspections for all trains that go through Center City stations on top of its other safety measures.

SEPTA's Regional Rail fleet has 225 Silverliner IV cars out of a total 390 passenger-carrying railcars.

"We've been using the Silverliner IV's less than the rest of the fleet," Sauer said.

SEPTA's long-range plan to replace the Regional Rail fleet remains only partially funded. To avoid a fiscal collapse and dramatic service cuts, SEPTA tapped into a state capital assistance fund last month to float the agency with $394 million to cover daily operations for the next two years. State lawmakers failed to agree on a long-term funding solution for SEPTA and other transportation agencies after months of negotiations.

NTSB recommended that SEPTA seek funding to create an expedited procurement schedule for new railcars or to speed up its retrofitting of Silverliner IV cars, but Sauer said SEPTA's options have been limited.

"Due to our ongoing funding constraints, we have had to continue to operate these trains long beyond the time they should have been retired," Sauer said. "However, we are confident that these trains are safe and we are also confident that our mitigation efforts will allow us to maintain safe service for our customers moving forward."

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said the NTSB report is "disturbing" and implored the state legislature to reach an agreement on how to support public transit.

"When anyone questioned my concerns and apprehension last month about SEPTA using capital funds for operating costs, this moment is why," Parker said. "I have been adamant that Philadelphia and our Southeast Pennsylvania region need to protect and strengthen our capital investments in SEPTA to ensure the safety, reliability, and future of our transit system for the 700,000 people who use SEPTA every day."