Refunds to SEPTA customers driven by aging infrastructure and weather

Did you know SEPTA offers a service guarantee if your train is more than 15 minutes late?  The money SEPTA pays out to delayed customers fluctuates with the weather.

SEPTA offers a refund if you are more than 15 minutes late on the regional rail, Broad Street and Market Frankford Lines, the Norristown High Speed Line and the Routes 101 and 102 trolleys. Over the past three years spokesman Richard Maloney says they have issued between 6,500 and 8,900 refunds a year.

“Our service guarantee varies each year based on two basic conditions, the winter and summer weather both heat and cold and the age of our infrastructure frankly, we have electrical problems on the railroad with old wire this year we aren’t having a good year, last year wasn’t so bad,” said Maloney.

In fact, in fiscal year 2010, payouts were down about 25 percent.

Maloney says there are some times when you just can’t have the train come in on time such as during severe weather, and the guarantee doesn’t apply then. If you run into a problem the form for a refund is available at SEPTA’s customer service centers.