Federal regulators told the agency to stop running its Silverliner IV fleet until it can identify and fix the cause of the fires, which forced hundreds of passengers to evacuate trains.
The National Transportation Safety Board has instructed the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to shelve its fleet of Silverliner IV rail cars after five fire incidents this year, reports Marc Levy for the Associated Press. In all five cases, passengers were forced to evacuate the trains, with some minor injuries reported. Two rail cars were completely destroyed by the fires.
The NTSB asked the agency to suspend the fleet until it can fix the cause and fast-track its replacement with cars that meet modern safety standards and warning systems. NTSB said the fleet “represents an immediate and unacceptable safety risk because of the incidence and severity of electrical fires that can spread to occupied compartments.”
SEPTA says replacing the fleet could cost roughly $1 billion and could take until 2036.
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