Just in time for the DNC, Philly public transit clusterfuck

[redheadbaker]

philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/07/03/septa-reduces-regional-rail-fleet-due-to-equipment-problems/

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — More than 100 vehicles on SEPTA’s Regional Rail line have been taken out of service due to equipment problems.

SEPTA officials say “fatigue cracks” have developed on equalizer beams on the majority of their Silverliner V cars, prompting an inspection and a revised transit schedule.

Service through the July 4 holiday is expected to be okay but the return to work on Tuesday will be a different story.

“Tuesday is the challenge,” noted General Manager Jeff Knueppel at a press conference. “And unfortunately it will be rough on our railroad customers.”

The affected trains joined SEPTA’s fleet in either early 2010 or early 2013 and are still under warranty. There’s no official cause for the defects but Knueppel says it’s possible that either something happened during manufacturing or there was a design flaw. He also says the vendor is cooperating but notes that even a temporary fix will take considerable time.

The shortage is expected to continue through July and August.

During that time SEPTA plans to use the modified Saturday schedule that was developed for weather emergencies, adding in additional rush hour service. More details on the modified schedule will be available Monday at SEPTA.org.

Service options will also be bolstered on the Market Frankford, Broad Street, Norristown High Speed lines as well as the Media trolley lines. Taking one of these alternatives may be a good idea for riders if possible since regional rail stations closest to the city are expected to be overcrowded, especially during the morning rush hour.

Parking near some of those other SEPTA lines may also become available.

Right now SEPTA officials are working to develop a fair credit plan for riders who have already purchased transit passes. They advise customers to hold onto them because they may be able to use them towards future pass purchases. Most tickets and passes will also be honored on other lines to accommodate any service disruptions.

SEPTA is asking riders to bear with them as they firm up the service contingency plans and continue with the inspections. They took the vehicles out of service out of an “abundance of caution.” Knueppel said derailment at high speeds would be a cause for concern had the issues gone unnoticed.

[OscarQ]

Jul 5, 2016 8:10:57 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Service through the July 4 holiday is expected to be okay but the return to work on Tuesday will be a different story.

“Tuesday is the challenge,” noted General Manager Jeff Knueppel at a press conference. “And unfortunately it will be rough on our railroad customers.”

From what I am hearing on FB, the morning commute did not go well.  H is home today and I don't think he's aware of this story yet.  Hoping service is back up to standard levels soon.SaveSave

[OscarQ]

Also, we're staying in Philly Saturday night after a concert and H wanted us to take the train in. Nope.

[chchchia]

They are borrowing trains from Amtrak and NJ Transit but I hear it is still supposed to be a cluster. Good on the employee who noticed the lean on one of the trains, it could have lead to a real tragedy.

[gummybear]

I am so thankful this is proactive rather than reactive. That being said, it's a huge inconvenience. MH drove in today and will until this gets sorted out. No fun at all and incredibly wasteful.

[sfy]

From the title, I thought it might be a SEPTA strike. Better safe than sorry.

[W.T.Faulkner]

THANKS, OBAMA.

[erbear]

What a pain. MH worked from home today - I'll be curious how his commute goes tomorrow.

[chchchia]

Did anyone hear how the parking was? They were supposed to make parking better b/c of this.

[redheadbaker]

Jul 5, 2016 14:46:31 GMT -5 chchchia said:

Did anyone hear how the parking was? They were supposed to make parking better b/c of this.

Parking where? In Center City? 

[chchchia]

Jul 5, 2016 14:52:32 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Jul 5, 2016 14:46:31 GMT -5 chchchia said:

Did anyone hear how the parking was? They were supposed to make parking better b/c of this.

Parking where? In Center City? 

LOL, I don't know.  In the city I figured b/c more people were driving. I did not listen to that part b/c even though I work in the city, we have parking and I don't take mass transit.

[redheadbaker]

Jul 5, 2016 15:00:33 GMT -5 chchchia said:

Jul 5, 2016 14:52:32 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Parking where? In Center City? 

LOL, I don't know.  In the city I figured b/c more people were driving. I did not listen to that part b/c even though I work in the city, we have parking and I don't take mass transit.

I haven't heard them address anything related to parking. Not that the city could make the private parking garages do anything. 

[gummybear]

I heard they are encouraging people to take the el, subway and high speed line and opening up lots around those main hub stations to get people to park there (Norristown, Navy yard etc.)

[LoveTrains]

All the railfan groups are talking about this because it sounds like a manufacturing defect in the cars.

[gummybear]

Jul 5, 2016 16:42:35 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

All the railfan groups are talking about this because it sounds like a manufacturing defect in the cars.

So, is it safe to assume the trains in other cities are affected as well?

[LoveTrains]

Jul 5, 2016 16:52:44 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Jul 5, 2016 16:42:35 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

All the railfan groups are talking about this because it sounds like a manufacturing defect in the cars.

So, is it safe to assume the trains in other cities are affected as well?

Denver has 60 of these cars in addition to the 120 that are in use in Philadelphia by SEPTA. I don't believe that anyone else is using this particular generation of the Silverliner at this time. 

There are some slight differences in the cars used in Denver and they only entered service this year so its possible that they do not have the defect, or if the defect is there, that the defect is a safety issue yet for them. 

[LoveTrains]

What is interesting is that there were issues and delays in the manufacturing of these cars to begin with - Rotem owes millions to SEPTA in fines for the delay in delivery. These are NEW cars so this isn't an issue of let's complain about lack of investment in infrastructure. These are new cars (3-5 years old-ish) that were made to replace the aging old fleet.

[laurenpetro]

Jul 5, 2016 16:52:44 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Jul 5, 2016 16:42:35 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

All the railfan groups are talking about this because it sounds like a manufacturing defect in the cars.

So, is it safe to assume the trains in other cities are affected as well?

No but Bombardier is having similar issues with a prototype R-179 for NYCTA. Rotem isn't as big of a supplier as Kawaski or Bombardier yet. But NY just passed a capital program where they're issuing a req for 1000 cars. We've been betting in the office that Bombardier won't get as big of a slice due to the R-179 issue. I'm willing to lay some cash that this takes H-R out of the picture as well. Then again I can't see NY being dumb enough to single-source the whole contract again so who knows.

[msmerymac]

As an update, they have discovered it might not be possible to repair the cars at all, and they will just have to get new ones. That's a multi-year process, although temporarily, SEPTA has contracted with Maryland, NJ, and Amtrak to bring in at least a few dozen more cars.

Many people on Tuesday didn't know what was going on, or why there were only 2 trains an hour instead of 3 trains during rush hour, or that this would be more than a 1-day problem.

[auntie]

Last I heard they were leasing 2 locomotive/5 coaches from Amtrak and 1 locomotive/8 coaches from NJT and 5 passenger coaches from MARC. They are describing this as 5 trainsets which will add 1700 seats, mostly on the Trenton, Paoli Thorndale lines and between 30th Street and Glenside. DS communtes to Templ; I hope things improve between now and the start of the semester. We're pretty far out; he'd likely be OK heading in, but not out of the city.

Rumor has it they even reached out to a couple tourist railroads in the area.

[msmerymac]

Jul 10, 2016 11:26:31 GMT -5 auntie said:

Last I heard they were leasing 2 locomotive/5 coaches from Amtrak and 1 locomotive/8 coaches from NJT and 5 passenger coaches from MARC. They are describing this as 5 trainsets which will add 1700 seats, mostly on the Trenton, Paoli Thorndale lines and between 30th Street and Glenside. DS communtes to Templ; I hope things improve between now and the start of the semester. We're pretty far out; he'd likely be OK heading in, but not out of the city.

Rumor has it they even reached out to a couple tourist railroads in the area.

Yeah, it must suck to get ON at Temple, since the cars tend to fill up at 30th, Suburban and Jefferson before the trains get there. 

The last few weekends we've taken the train into the city, my husband has insisted on getting back on at Suburban, even if we're closer to Jefferson, because there's more room. We usually have our bikes with us, too. One of those weekends was the flower show, so of course, there were massive crowds at Jefferson Station. 

Plus, only about 1/2 the trains on our route (cause you and I live on the same line) get out to you guys. Thankfully, virtually all the trains on stop at my station - express and local. I think there's only one that skips it. 

[OscarQ]

I saw a brief update that SEPTA is revising the schedule effective today or tomorrow. I haven't looked up our line yet to see if they've added an earlier train. This is tally screwing up my H as his 5:45am train was cancelled so he's getting in nearly a full hour later now. Paying to park downtown is crazy expensive so he's stuck with whatever the first train is for now.

[gummybear]

MH has been driving to Fernrock and taking the subway. This is fine for now but once school starts it could get more crowded

[auntie]

Jul 5, 2016 17:20:07 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jul 5, 2016 16:52:44 GMT -5 gummybear said:

So, is it safe to assume the trains in other cities are affected as well?

Denver has 60 of these cars in addition to the 120 that are in use in Philadelphia by SEPTA. I don't believe that anyone else is using this particular generation of the Silverliner at this time. 

There are some slight differences in the cars used in Denver and they only entered service this year so its possible that they do not have the defect, or if the defect is there, that the defect is a safety issue yet for them. 

DS says the Denver Silverliners are much lighter and that the rails are in better shape; they may avoid this issue. He has Aspergers and knows all things trains. 

[laurenpetro]

Jul 10, 2016 18:07:58 GMT -5 auntie said:

Jul 5, 2016 17:20:07 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Denver has 60 of these cars in addition to the 120 that are in use in Philadelphia by SEPTA. I don't believe that anyone else is using this particular generation of the Silverliner at this time. 

There are some slight differences in the cars used in Denver and they only entered service this year so its possible that they do not have the defect, or if the defect is there, that the defect is a safety issue yet for them. 

DS says the Denver Silverliners are much lighter and that the rails are in better shape; they may avoid this issue. He has Aspergers and knows all things trains. 

If he ever needs a job as a consultant let me know

[chchchia]

I had to laugh at their update..great news! We are going to have 1700 more seats available! Didn't mention that 13,000 were lost.