Temperature drop slows SEPTA system

The sudden drop in temperature has proved problematic for SEPTA, but transit workers are doing what they can to keep delays to a minimum.

The rapid change hit the transit system hard Tuesday with delays of up to 30 minutes during the morning rush, said Ron Hopkins, SEPTA’s chief operations officer.”Going from 40 to 15 [degrees] has created problems, we’ve experienced these problems in the past,” he said. “We’ve experienced similar problems when we go from a 70-degree day to a 95-degree day.”SEPTA’s system depends on air power for many processes, and liquid in the air lines freezes, Hopkins said.”We’ve done a lot of work with our vehicles and our switches to make sure we have dry air, but you still have problems when the temperature changes,” he said.SEPTA is bringing in extra employees to help make repairs as quickly as possible and keep its fleet on time.