By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s administration, which has threatened to pull aging railcars from service in Pennsylvania, said on Tuesday it will extend a deadline for a state transit agency to inspect the fleet. On October 1, the Federal Railroad Administration issued an emergency order requiring the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to […]
U.S.
US extends inspection deadline for Pennsylvania transit agency after fires
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By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s administration, which has threatened to pull aging railcars from service in Pennsylvania, said on Tuesday it will extend a deadline for a state transit agency to inspect the fleet.
On October 1, the Federal Railroad Administration issued an emergency order requiring the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to address fire risks within 30 days from its 225 Silverliner IV railcars. The order followed an urgent safety recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board following five fires. FRA said it would give the agency until Nov. 14 to complete inspections and until early December to install fire protection circuits.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he had a positive meeting with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, the state’s two senators and other officials and pledged that the U.S. Department of Transportation would work collaboratively to ensure fire risks were addressed.
“We’ve chosen to work together to team up and find an answer for the riders of Philadelphia,” Duffy said. “We could have shut the system down. We did not want to shut the system down. Too many people rely on SEPTA to get in and out of the city.”
SEPTA is the sixth-largest public transit system in the U.S. It provides service to five counties in the Greater Philadelphia area and connects to transit systems in Delaware and New Jersey providing service to nearly 200 million riders annually.
SEPTA has 225 Silverliner IV railcars that are around 50 years old and represent two-thirds of its regional rail fleet but for financial reasons must keep using the cars.
Halting use of the cars would require a two-thirds cut in service and would cost $2 billion but the authority is in dire funding straits, SEPTA said.
The cars are some of the oldest in the country and the agency has developed a comprehensive set of 40 mitigation measures, including additional notifications and safety checks to personnel and audible alarms for fault lights.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)