SEPTA Expects to Be Operating at Normal Fleet Size in *November

[Headline updated 08/09/2016 to reflect the correct timeline for the Silverliner V repairs.]

"SEPTA should return to a regular Regional Rail schedule again by October, the authority's general manager said in a press conference Wednesday," report Jason Laughlin & Emily Babay for The Inquirer's In Transit blog.

The rail authority will begin replacing defective parts on 120 Silverliner V rail cars, about a third of its fleet, at the end of this month and and plans to return 10 cars to service every week until November 12, said Jeff Knueppel, SEPTA's general manager.

SEPTA expects to have at least 40 rail cars leased from other agencies, though, which should allow it to return to a regular schedule in about two months, before all the Silverliner V cars are repaired.

"All trains are operating on Interim Weekday Schedules until further notice," according to SEPTA.

"The Silverliner Vs are the newest trains in SEPTA's Regional Fleet—going into service between 2011 and 2013," notes a July 6 post.

The 120 cars were almost all found to have cracks in equalizer beams, a part that transfers the weight of the car to the axles. The cracks could have posed a significant safety hazard if they hadn't been discovered by a SEPTA inspector.

Nearly identical Silverliner Vs, manufactured in South Korea by Hyundai Rotem and assembled in Philadelphia, are in use in Denver's new A and B lines with no problems, as an earlier post indicates.

Hyundai Rotem will cover the cost of the parts and repairs, add Laughlin and Babay. "It remains an open question how — or if — Hyundai Rotem will cover the indirect costs of the vehicle failures," which include loss of ridership and passenger car leasing costs of up to $1 million per month.

Hat tip to AASHTO Daily Transportation Update.