SEPTA Silverliner IV repairs near completion after FRA order

SEPTA Silverliner IV repairs are moving toward completion after federally mandated repairs sidelined part of the fleet and tightened capacity on Regional Rail. The pictured Silverliner, No. 280, wears a heritage Reading Co. scheme and was the first Silverliner IV built by Budd and GE in 1974.

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

SEPTA Silverliner IV repairs and the FRA heat-detector requirement

SEPTA has now received the thermal wire needed to add heat detectors to the Silverliner IV cars, as Billy Penn reports. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) ordered the devices as a fire-prevention measure, but a shortage of the wire kept the agency from meeting the Dec. 5 deadline for installing the thermal detectors.

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SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch told the news site that heat detectors have been installed on 203 of the 223 Silverliner IVs, and that the work takes about four hours per car. SEPTA has also completed other repair work discovered during FRA-mandated inspections on about 180 cars.

Silverliner IV fleet inspections after fires

The FRA ordered Silverliner IV fleet inspections in October after a series of fires involving the Budd-built equipment, which dates to the 1970s, under an FRA Emergency Order. With fewer cars available during the inspections and repairs, many Regional Rail trains have been limited to two cars rather than the usual three or four.

That reduced capacity has contributed to months of Regional Rail overcrowding, and riders have also seen skipped stops when trains were already full. The same situation is noted in coverage from Railway Supply.

Regional Rail overcrowding and rider impact

Busch acknowledged the impact on passengers during the three-month stretch of constrained service. “It’s been an extraordinarily difficult three months now for our riders,” he told the news site. “We really can’t thank them enough for their patience. We know it’s impacted them and their lives and their families and their ability to get to work.”

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