No changes this week, SEPTA still saying full regional rail schedule early next month

As SEPTA continues repairing cracked stabilizer bars on its Silverliner V train cars, regional rail commuters should not expect additional trains this week.

Despite that, SEPTA is still looking to bring back full schedules in early October.SEPTA Spokesperson Carla Showell Lee says the work continues to bring the SEPTA rail fleet back to full strength.

“The timeline still looks good, we did an inspection and it looks good,” she said. “We have 24 cars back in service right now about two or three a day are coming in.”

Over the summer, SEPTA riders could see gradual improvement when new trains were added every few weeks.  And while that is not happening this week, Showell Lee says a return to full service is just around the corner.

“The date is still for October 3rd through the 10th and mid-November when we are looking for all of our cars to return to service.”

The November date is when SEPTA will be able to return the borrowed and rented trains to other transit agencies.

Since one third of SEPTA’s regional rail trains were sidelined, ridership has dropped 10 to 20 percent, costing millions in lost fare revenue.

Showell Lee says after initial problems with fixed railcars, the latest versions seem to be working properly.