62 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Philadelphia, PA Inquirer, 1/26/21:

 

  Without commuters, what will happen to SEPTA Regional Rail?  

 

Make no doubt about it, the COVID-19 pandemic has created plenty of knots for SEPTA to work through.

 

Behind closed doors, there’s chatter about mitigation strategies and vaccine distribution, talks with its unions about protecting workers and riders, and conversations with lawmakers on its dire financial challenges. 

 

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[KevinKorell]

Philadelphia, PA Inquirer, 1/26/21:

 

   SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill West Line has been suspended for months, and there’s no timeline on a return  

(snip)
The impacts of COVID-19 immediately showed their effects on Regional Rail, a mode carrying many of the region’s suburban residents to Center City jobs. But as white-collar workers stayed home, SEPTA suspended some Regional Rail Lines. Service began to make a slow return over the summer.

The Chestnut Hill West and Cynwyd Lines, which have some of the lowest ridership, stayed suspended. 

 

Article

[KevinKorell]

Update on Chestnut Hill West service, a change from 2 days ago.  From Philadelphia, PA, 1/28/21:

 

   SEPTA Chestnut Hill West Line will return with ‘restricted service’ in March 

 

 

SEPTA Regional Rail’s Chestnut Hill West Line, one of two lines suspended in COVID-19 schedule changes last spring, will return with some service in March, General Manager Leslie S. Richards said Thursday.

 

Update

[KevinKorell]

Philly Voice, 1/28/21:

 

   SEPTA rolls out Mask Force Philly initiative to increase compliance across transit system 

 

 

SEPTA has embarked on a new public awareness campaign that encourages riders on subways, trolleys, buses and trains to wear face masks more frequently.

 

Full story

[CNJRoss]

WHYY News Philadelphia, PA  1/28/21

 

SEPTA to explore Regional Rail fare restructuring as agency faces a future with fewer suburban commuters

 

 

SEPTA made a push in 2020 to make transit more equitable and now Regional Rail may get the same treatment.

 

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) approved a plan Thursday to spend $100,000 on an analysis of the commuter rail system looking at ways to make the system work better and cost less for Philadelphia riders. The approval to study Regional Rail comes more than a month after SEPTA awarded Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates a $3 million contract to oversee a redesign of its bus network, amid a financial crisis that has made adapting to changing needs and serving new riders essential to the survival of the system.

 

Nearly a year into a pandemic that eliminated commutes for many workers, Regional Rail ridership is down 85%. The authority

reported passenger revenue in November came in $53 million short of expectation —  a precipitous 82% drop.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

SEPTA website:

 

 

Regional Rail Select Schedule Changes - Select Lines
Sunday, January 24, 2021

 

Regional Rail Select Schedule Changes - Select Lines Sunday, January 24, 2021

 

Select changes to schedules on Regional Rail Lines are being made to midday, weekday schedules and will go into effect on the Chestnut Hill East, Lansdale/Doylestown, Manayunk/Norristown, Trenton and Wilmington/Newark lines to support on-going state of good repair track and overhead wire work and special shoreline stabilization efforts. Fox Chase will add additional stops and service. New timetables are effective Sunday, January 24, 2021.

 

The new Wilmington Line timetable reintroduces service to Churchman's Crossing and Newark, Delaware stations beginning Monday, January 25. These train extensions are sponsored by the state of Delaware and will provide public transit options during the Interstate 95 construction closure scheduled to begin February 2021 and continuing through early calendar year 2023.

 

The following schedules will remain in effect: Warminster, and Paoli/Thorndale dated August 16, 2020; Airport dated September 15, 2020; Media/Elwyn dated November 2, 2020; West Trenton dated December 5, 2020. Chestnut Hill West and Cynwyd Line remain suspended. Updated January timetables will be posted on septa.org. Additional Regional Rail service changes are planned for March 2021.

 

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 2021 REGIONAL RAIL SCHEDULE CHANGE, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

 

Cross posted in Coronavirus/SEPTA and regular Commuter Rail forums.

[CNJRoss]

The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/7/21

 

 

SEPTA is relying on persuasion, not punishment, to enforce federal mask requirement

 

 

Earlier in the pandemic, 16-year Regional Rail rider Annie Craig found enough room on Lansdale/Doylestown Line trains to be able to sit far from passengers without masks.

 

But in recent weeks, ridership on many of the trains she takes from Fort Washington to Center City has increased. The buffer of space has shrunk.

 

“It’s putting the rest of us at risk,” said Craig, a nurse at a home-care agency.

 

President Joe Biden’s executive order mandating masks on public transit nationally took effect last week, but enforcement is a bit of a gray area, with regulators so far allowing local agencies flexibility.

 

Unlike some other agencies, SEPTA is reminding the barefaced of the requirement — educating them and offering free masks — instead of fining violators or removing them from their ride. The agency says its continuous audits show an average systemwide compliance rate north of 90%.

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, 2/25/21

 

 

SEPTA board OKs spending federal COVID-19 aid on the King of Prussia rail line

There will be no diminution in service because of the reallocation, SEPTA says. Federal pandemic aid for transit agencies is mostly earmarked for operating expenses.

SEPTA will spend $40 million in emergency federal funds designed to help transit agencies keep buses and trains running during the pandemic to do design and engineering work for the proposed King of Prussia rail project.

Philadelphia transit advocates spoke against the move Thursday before the SEPTA board unanimously approved the reallocation during its monthly virtual public meeting. Agency officials said that it would not diminish service and that it was important to make progress on a project it believes vital to the region’s economy.

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

CHW is back!   From KYW Radio, Philadelphia, PA, 3/8/21:

 

 

    SEPTA restores Chestnut Hill West Regional Rail service 

 

 

SEPTA brought back service on the Chestnut Hill West Regional Rail lines Monday.

 

 

This story also includes news about the Cynwyd line:

 

 

He said SEPTA officials are now studying a possible return of the Cynwyd rail line but have no timetable yet for those trains to begin rolling again.

 

Paoli-Thorndale trains run along that same line and are picking up passengers who would have used the Cynwyd line.

 

The second statement is false.  While the Cynwyd Line is a branch off the Paoli-Thorndale Line, and the two do share tracks between their junction and Center City, there are no shared stations in that segment. 

[KevinKorell]

NBC Philadelphia, 3/2/21:

 

 

   Many City and SEPTA Workers' Have Filed Coronavirus-Related Job Complaints  

 

 

Gene Connell, a SEPTA worker who supplies bus mechanics with equipment, erected a plastic barrier around the storeroom where he works to protect him from the coronavirus.

 

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