A SEPTA Regional Rail train headed to Center City, Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Regional Rail ridership for multiple SEPTA lines continues to increase following the collapse of a section of I-95 Sunday.
The Fox Chase, Trenton, Warminster, and West Trenton lines saw a 14% increase in riders Tuesday and Wednesday, compared to last week, according to data from the transit agency. The Warminster line saw a 20% jump on Wednesday.
Public Information Manager Kelly Greene said Thursday that SEPTA is taking the I-95 situation day-by-day as plans for the repairs begin to take shape.
“We know a major issue like this can have ripple effects on travel throughout the region and across our system,” he said. “We’re going to continue to make any adjustments that we can to accommodate these needs. But the service adjustments we’ve made so far have really been working. The ridership data shows that. But we’ll keep track of it.”
Earlier in the week, SEPTA reported three of its Regional Rail lines, the Fox Chase, the Trenton, and the West Trenton lines, saw a 12% ridership increase on Monday, one day after the collapse.
The transit agency has been dealing with a worker shortage since before the pandemic. Regional Rail is down 80 assistant conductors, conductors, and engineers since January of 2019, but work is underway to fill the gaps, Greene said.
“We are still getting a good number of new hires, which are the assistant conductor trainees,” he said. “And of those 238 assistant conductors trainees … we have, 26 are currently in training to become engineers.”
Greene said SEPTA Key card sales have also increased on the affected lines.
I-95 will likely be closed for several weeks following a deadly explosion involving a tanker truck beneath an overpass at the Cottman Avenue exit on Sunday. On Monday, investigators discovered remains of the truck driver.
This story has been updated with ridership statistics from the week, as well as information regarding the status of the Cynwyd Line.