PHILADELPHIA — Passengers on Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority passengers on Regional Rail service are experiencing more crowded trains, as well as some delays and cancellations, as SEPTA begins federally mandated inspections to address concerns over fire risks with its Silverliner IV electric multiple unit passenger equipment.
As of Monday, Sept. 6, all Regional Rail trains are operating with two fewer cars, SEPTA said in a passenger advisory. The agency is removing the 225 Silverliner IV cars — the majority of its 390-car fleet — for inspections to address problems called out by the National Transportation Safety Board in an investigation report released last week [see “NTSB urges SEPTA …,” Trains.com, Oct. 1, 2025]. The Federal Railroad Administration followed that report with an emergency order giving SEPTA seven days to inspect every Silverliner IV car and address a long list of other compliance actions [see “FRA issues an emergency order …,” Trains.com], Oct. 2, 2025].
SEPTA said it is committed to full compliance with the FRA order, and that it is “confident that full compliance will achieve the goal of the NTSB recommendation without suspending the Silverliner IV fleet and severely limiting service. … Over the next month, as SEPTA complies with the FRA Emergency Order, Silverliner IV railcars will be removed from service for inspections and to implement mitigation practices developed together with NTSB and FRA.” That will likely lead to some cancellations and delays, SEPTA cautions, saying it will provide updates on its Alerts and Advisories page and social media.
SEPTA says it is developing a funding plan to replace the Silverliners, built between 1974 and 1976 but still in use beyond their planned service life because of “funding constraints that have prevented their replacement.” That will be a lengthy and costly process, the agency said; in the meantime, it will continue “a robust maintenance and vehicle overhaul program.”
The NTSB and FRA actions follow some five fires this year involving the Silverliner IV equipment, most recently a July 22 incident that injured a SEPTA employee and a firefighter [see “Crew member, firefighter hurt …,” Trains.com, July 23, 2025].
