HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and leaders of Philadelphia’s mass transit agency said Monday that the system is fully complying with federal orders to take measures to help prevent fires in an aging electric railcar model that is heavily used in its regional rail fleet. The October order from the Federal Railroad […]
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Philadelphia transit agency says it’s complying with orders to upgrade railcars implicated in fires
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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and leaders of Philadelphia’s mass transit agency said Monday that the system is fully complying with federal orders to take measures to help prevent fires in an aging electric railcar model that is heavily used in its regional rail fleet.
The October order from the Federal Railroad Administration came after federal transportation authorities investigated five fires this year involving the Silverliner IV passenger railcars used by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA.
Shapiro, a Democrat, said he is sending an extra $220 million in state aid to SEPTA to help it comply with the orders. SEPTA said that, starting Monday, some of the roughly 225 Silverliner IV cars will return to service for the first time since October.
“We cannot let SEPTA fail,” Shapiro said in a news conference at SEPTA’s Frazer maintenance plant in Malvern. “We have to continue to be there for SEPTA and for all mass transit agencies. It’s too important for our economy, it’s too important for communities, it’s too important for our entire commonwealth.”
SEPTA is one of the nation’s largest mass transit agencies, carrying 800,000 daily riders on buses, trolleys and rail. It blames inadequate public funding for a backlog of upgrades of more than $10 billion.
The Silverliner IV rail cars represent about two-thirds of SEPTA’s regional rail fleet and date back to the mid-1970s. They are SEPTA’s oldest rail cars in the nation’s oldest rail fleet, the agency said.
SEPTA has completed the federally ordered inspections and begun equipment upgrades on the Silverliner IV cars, Shapiro said. Federal inspectors contributed hundreds of hours of their time, state Transportation Secretary Michael Carroll said.
In the meantime, SEPTA riders have endured delays, crowded rail cars and cancellations in recent weeks as SEPTA at times operated its regional rail service with about one-third of its normal capacity because of emergency Silverliner IV inspections. Regional rail service should be back to full strength, or close to it, by mid-December, SEPTA said.
The news conference came months after the Legislature’s Republican majority blocked Shapiro’s request for more transit aid, protesting that highways should get more money, too, and that SEPTA must raise fares and demonstrate that it is more efficient and accountable.
The funding fight led to a brief shutdown of some services that SEPTA had described as more drastic than any undertaken by a major transit agency in the U.S., but necessary to deal with a deficit of more than $200 million.
The aid approved by Shapiro will help pay for upgrades to the Silverliner IV cars, improvements to make it easier to inspect and maintain transit lines and to lease and buy rail cars from other systems, Shapiro said.
SEPTA has put the price tag at nearly $1 billion to replace the Silverliner IV cars and projected a 10-year timeline to design, procure and build replacement cars.
But Shapiro said that SEPTA riders can’t wait for 10 years to see regional rail services fully restored and that the money — transferred from a flexible state-funded transit capital account — will ensure that the Silverliner IV cars are safe for as long as they are used.
Shapiro has repeatedly said that it is imperative that SEPTA be able to provide enhanced service for major tourist events next year. Those include FIFA World Cup matches in Philadelphia, events surrounding the celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday, Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, the PGA Championship and NCAA March Madness games.
All five fires forced everyone aboard to evacuate — in one case, as many as 350 passengers — with a few minor injuries reported. One railcar was involved in two of the fires, and two other railcars were destroyed, the National Transportation Safety Board has said.
It came at a time when SEPTA and major transit agencies around the U.S. are fighting for more public funding as they struggle with rising costs and lagging ridership.
SEPTA is one of the nation’s largest mass transit agencies, carrying 800,000 daily riders on buses, trolleys and rail. It blames inadequate public funding for a backlog of upgrades of more than $10 billion.
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