Since the middle of last week, all SEPTA Push Pulls has been sidelined from service. According to reports, the ex-Reading side [East/North of Jefferson Station] of the system has experienced issues with it’s power substations.
It is doubtful that the SEPTA Push Pulls will be sidelined for too long. After all for the past several years almost $400 million in capital expenditures and upgrades to infrastructure to aid in the support and expansion of the Push Pull fleet.
Here is the break down:
1) To upgrade the substations at least $100 million
2) Purchase of 15 ACS-64 – $154 million
3) Contract with CRRC (CRRC Corporation Limited based in China built in Springfield, MA) to build 45 Multilevel – $138 million
4) Overhaul of 11 Push Pulls cars Contract to Rotem – $6.28 million
It has also been reported that CRRC is set to begin production on the Multilevel train cars starting this summer or fall. https://www.masslive.com/news/2021/06/crrc-factory-in-springfield-welcome-first-los-angeles-subway-cars.html