Tomorrow, SEPTA is expected to receive ten leased rail coach cars from Maryland Area Regional Commuter Rail (MARC)
As a result of the ongoing Silverliner IV fiasco, SEPTA signed the one-year agreement with MARC. The cost is $26 million (2.6 million per car). The cars would need to first be inspected and test and it is expected to be about two-three weeks before these are placed into revenue service.
This will be the third time when SEPTA has leased cars from MARC. The First time was in 2016 during the Silverliner V crasis, where the Vs were sidelined from service due to fatigue cracks in the trucks in the trunks. The second time was in 2019, when SEPTA leased a set to be used on the Trenton line to help relived the overcrowding given to the construction on I-95.
The lease was funded as part of the nearly $220 million in additional capital dollars allocated by Gov. Josh Shapiro last month.
I have created a third-party tracker to track SEPTA push pulls here: