SEPTA adjusts Regional Rail train schedules ahead of fall season

SEPTA’s Regional Rail trains are running on a new schedule, with the majority of routes seeing changes.

Spokesperson Andrew Busch said the agency is constantly adjusting schedules as circumstances warrant.

“Sometimes it’s adjusting arrival and departure times slightly to better reflect how trains are actually running, so we usually do it every three to four months. With this one we’re getting ready for what we hope to be a busy fall,” he said.

The changes are a result of ongoing service evaluations “typically reflecting trends we’re seeing in ridership,” Busch said.

“We are looking at where we are seeing more ridership, where things have dropped off where we make adjustments,” he said. “Sometimes it is just adjusting departure and arrival times slightly to better reflect how trains are actually running.”

Busch adds SEPTA is ramping up several rail lines that were under construction for the last few months.

“We’ve also just completed a major infrastructure project, the Southwest Connection Improvement Program. That work just wrapped up on Saturday and that affected travel on the Media-Elwyn, Airport, and Wilmington-Newark lines,” he said. “So this schedule reflects more getting back to normal on those lines after we’ve had a couple of months of partial shuttle bussing shutdowns.”

Busch added that the changes might be minor, but people need to know about them so they don’t miss the train.

“Eleven of the 13 lines have had changes, some of them are minor time adjustments to arrivals or departures, but if you are used to catching the train at a specific time, that could catch you by surprise if you’re not checking beforehand.”

SEPTA’s Regional Rail schedule changes can be viewed online.