Tag: Septa fares

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SEPTA put bid out for new Train cars (Silverliner VIs)

SEPTA has officially moved forward with the replacement of its railcar fleet, issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) yesterday via Bidnet.

The proposal outlines an order for 234 cars, intended to replace the existing Silverliner IV fleet (now down to 225 cars from an original 232). The RFP also includes options for up to 92 additional cars, some specifically for an “Airport” configuration.

Performance & Design Shift:

This RFP is a significant update from the Request for Information (RFI) SEPTA released a few years ago. The new cars are proposed to have better performance specs: an acceleration rate of 3 mph/s (matching the Silverliner Vs) and a top speed of 100 mph (up from the 80mph proposal).

Design-wise, unlike the IVs and Vs, the new cars will strictly be in married pairs and are proposed to utilize Full Cabs.

The Critical Need:

The urgency for this replacement cannot be overstated. The aging Silverliner IV fleet has suffered from increasing unreliability and a rise in fire incidents throughout the year.

Following these issues, the FRA mandated new safety guidelines in September. The deadline for inspecting all 225 cars was initially October 31st, but it has recently been extended to November 14th.

The Timeline:

Delivery of the new cars is currently proposed to begin in 2030, contingent on SEPTA successfully securing the required funding.

From the SEPTA REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR THE PURCHASE

For more infomation

https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/bid/Silverliner-VI-RFP-Technical-Specifications.pdf

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The bad and the Good in the SEPTA funding status

Bad news: SEPTA board approved the first round of fare increases set to occur on 12/1/2024. These raises were supposed to occur back in 2020 but the pandemic delayed them due to the influx of money from COVID funds from both the Trump and Biden Administrations. These increases were voted on yesterday during the SEPTA monthly board meeting. As stated these changes goes into effect on December 1st 2024.

here are the changes!

Good news: Today the Governor ordered to flex $153 million in PennDOT to transit. This allows SEPTA to postpone further increases and cuts until July 2025 at the very least. Hopefully by then the State Senate would vote on something between January and then. The Senate session for this year has ended. As stated in the last update while nothing could have been done to avoid any increases. At least the most significant increases were held off for this time around. Also in some other good news the recent fare increases does allow some customers to save some money. For example, those riding from Overbrook into Center City would see some savings as Overbrook would now be a Zone 1 station.