It was a challenging winter for Regional Rail riders. The combination of unpredictable and volatile weather and record cold, aging infrastructure and vehicles, congestion, and delays arising from partners we share tracks with, like Amtrak, resulted in service that does not meet our standards for reliability and on-time performance.
SEPTA’s service standard for on-time performance (OTP) is 90%. In August 2024, overall Regional Rail on-time performance declined to 87.3%, and in January 2025 it was 81.8%. While OTP is always slightly lower during winter months, these numbers do not meet our goals. The worsening OTP was primarily driven by declines on seven of our thirteen lines: Paoli/Thorndale, Fox Chase, West Trenton, Lansdale/Doylestown, Trenton, Media/Wawa and Manayunk/Norristown.
What’s causing the delays?
Weather
The winter of 2024/2025 was the coldest in Philadelphia in 10 years. Rain, show, wind and freeze/thaw cycles all present challenges to Regional Rail operations. For example, 16 trees fell onto SEPTA equipment during a February windstorm, affecting six lines.
Aging Infrastructure
SEPTA’s infrastructure is old – for example, the tunnel between William H. Gray 30th St Station and Jefferson Station dates back to the 1930s! The tracks, signals, switches and communications equipment that Regional Rail needs to operate require more and more maintenance every year.
Aging Vehicles
SEPTA’s Regional Rail fleet is the oldest in the country. Within the fleet, the oldest vehicles take longer to board due to slower door operations. As vehicles age, it becomes more challenging to acquire needed parts and safely keep these vehicles in operation.
Amtrak and CSX
Three full lines (Paoli/Thorndale, Wilmington/Newark, and Trenton) and half of Regional Rail service runs on tracks controlled by Amtrak. Some of the West Trenton line runs on tracks shared with CSX freight trains. Amtrak and CSX disruptions have an impact on SEPTA service as well.
Congestion
Delays due to train congestion often cascade on one another, with individual delays accumulating into more significant delays. As SEPTA ridership has rebounded in recent years, it also takes longer to board and de-board at each stop, making delays worse.
Many of these challenges can be addressed with a combination of short-term and long-term improvements. We already began implementing some of these improvements with the March 16, 2025 Spring Schedule change.
However, that’s only the beginning. Throughout the rest of the year, SEPTA will be working on a number of changes ranging from schedules to staffing, infrastructure to vehicles, to continue to reduce delays. In addition, SEPTA is re-evaluating the way we communicate about delays and disruptions to riders, to ensure that when disruptions do happen, riders get the information they need where and when they need it.
Immediate Actions we put into place with March 16 Schedule Change
- Adding 31 Assistant Conductors to peak trains, so that more cars can be open for passenger seating and boarding/alighting can move more quickly
- Adjusting train schedules on approximately 20% of our service to reduce the likelihood that a small delay will spread and cause additional delays
- Increasing time between SEPTA and Amtrak trains to reduce the impact of Amtrak delays on SEPTA trains, particularly on the Paoli/Thorndale Line
- Staging the newest vehicles in our fleet to use during peak service as much as possible, since newer vehicles allow for faster boarding/alighting
- Continuing to deploy maintenance crews in strategic locations in advance to get service restored quickly in the event of a disruption
Improvements to be implemented over the rest of 2025 to build on progress
- Service Planning will continue to work with Operations to evaluate the trains with the lowest on-time performance for each schedule change, implementing adjustments to staffing and schedules in the next schedule change to improve performance.
- Inspections of tracks, switches, and signals identified priority issues at six key interlockings (places where trains switch tracks).
- Improvements at 16th St, Schuylkill, Hunt, Wayne interlockings in-progress, target Summer/Fall for completion
- Improvements at 20th St and Kay interlockings to begin this summer, target Dec 31 completion
- On the Fox Chase Line, wood poles were upgraded to steel and six miles of overhead catenary wire will be replaced, targeted Fall 2025 completion date. Additionally, Continuous Welded Rail, which provides a smoother ride and requires less maintenance over time, will be installed on this line starting in late Fall 2025.
- 20 grade crossings are getting new striping and delineators Spring/Summer 2025
- Grant-funded automated surveying by contractors starting in May 2025 will identify and prioritize issues with overhead catenary system more thoroughly and precisely
- Nightly deployment of maintenance crews to inspect and repair overhead catenary system to ensure readiness for AM rush hour.
- Seeking specialist support to review signal and switch systems and recommend medium-term actions SEPTA can take to bridge the gap between the short-term improvements we’re making to interlockings and a longer-term plan to replace infrastructure more comprehensively
- Ongoing analysis of which vehicles have had repeat issues, so they can be prioritized for maintenance and mechanical upgrades
- Improving internal communication in maintenance yards to make sure scheduled trains depart on time, since initial delays out of the yard can compound into more delays
- Moving Regional Rail Mechanical Desk Managers into the SEPTA Control Center to better coordinate with the rest of Operations when equipment issues happen
Longer-term Improvements beyond 2025 to improve the function and resilience of our network for years to come
Looking ahead, SEPTA recognizes the need to more comprehensively replace our aging infrastructure and vehicles, addressing the root causes of many of the challenges our Regional Rail system is facing. Maintaining and modernizing our infrastructure is a big job that we’re happy to do, but it requires regular investment and support from our funding partners.
We also recognize this is not an issue that only impacts our Regional Rail riders. As we focus on getting Back-to-Basics, we’ll release service reliability improvement plans for each of our modes of transit.
We know your time is valuable and we will continue to prioritize your safety and do our best to make our service more reliable and efficient.