SEPTA Regional Rail schedule restoration: morning expresses back

SEPTA Regional Rail schedule restoration is set for Monday, Jan. 12, returning Regional Rail to its standard timetables, according to a SEPTA press release. The change also brings back morning express service, which has been suspended since October.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

SEPTA Regional Rail schedule restoration: why service is changing now?

SEPTA says the shift is possible as more Silverliner IV railcars repairs are completed and additional cars return to service. Those railcars had been sidelined after a Federal Railroad Administration emergency order was issued in October, triggering service disruptions across Regional Rail.

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“This is a major step toward restoring normal service on Regional Rail,” SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer said in a press release. He said the return of Regional Rail express trains in the morning should let SEPTA serve high-volume stations more efficiently, reducing crowding as well as delays and pass-ups on local trains.

Morning express service returns after earlier schedule adjustments

SEPTA notes that evening express service resumed in November, but more equipment was needed before the agency could restart morning express service. In the meantime, about 24 morning trips across six major Regional Rail routes were converted from express service to all-stop local operation.

With Regional Rail express trains returning, some morning trains will again bypass stations they have served since October. SEPTA is advising riders to review updated timetables so they understand what’s changing.

Silverliner IV repairs status and the FRA order behind the disruption

Work on the Silverliner IV fleet continues. SEPTA reported that repairs had been completed on 180 of the 223 cars as of Friday, Jan. 9, a figure also referenced in Railway Supply coverage of the Silverliner IV repair progress.

The disruptions trace back to an Oct. 1 FRA emergency order Silverliner IV SEPTA following a series of Silverliner IV fleet fires in 2025; the order is posted as Federal Railroad Administration Emergency Order No. 34 (PDF). The Silverliner IV electric multiple-unit cars represent roughly two-thirds of the Regional Rail fleet.

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