Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has finished the detailed inspections of its Silverliner IV Regional Rail trains required under a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) emergency order issued on 1 October.
The agency confirmed that all point-by-point checks were completed ahead of the 14 November deadline.
The emergency order set out 14 safety-related actions following a series of recent fires involving the vehicles. SEPTA met most of these actions by the initial 31 October deadline, with the FRA granting additional time to complete enhanced inspections of the 223 railcars and to install high-heat detectors.
SEPTA stated that it remains on track to meet the extended 5 December deadline for fitting the thermal protection circuits. These circuits are intended to break the electrical supply to components that begin to overheat, adding a further safety measure to the fleet.
SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer said:I appreciate the hard work and dedication by our workforce to achieve this major milestone. I am confident that, through continued collaboration with the FRA, we can maintain safe Silverliner IV service for our customers.
With inspections now concluded, SEPTA expects Regional Rail performance to improve gradually as repaired railcars return to service.
To supplement capacity during the repair period, SEPTA has agreed to lease 10 coach cars from the Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) system. The additional vehicles are expected to offer some short-term relief for riders.
SEPTA plans to continue issuing updates as work progresses on the FRA-mandated safety measures.
