PHILADELPHIA — A shortage of thermal wire will prevent the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority from meeting a deadline today (Dec. 5) for ongoing repairs to its fleet of Silverliner IV electric multiple-unit cars.
The agency is about 7,000 feet short of the wire needed to add additional fire-detection measures to the 1970s railcars, the subject of several Federal Railroad Administration orders after a series of fires earlier this year. The agency needs a total of about 39,000 feet of the wire to complete the work on the 223-car fleet, a SEPTA spokesman told WPVI-TV.
“As far as we know, we’ve bought all of the available thermal wire in North America,” spokesman Andrew Busch said. It will be a week or more before more wire arrives. He said SEPTA will not be in violation of the Dec. 5 deadline for the installation of new thermal detectors “because it’s a supply issue. It’s out of our control.”
The delay will extend the timeline for returning all cars to service and easing the equipment shortage that has led to smaller, more crowded trains. About 90 cars still need repairs. Some temporary help is expected shortly, as 10 cars leased from Maryland’s MARC are expected to arrive today. SEPTA has said it is continuing to look for additional equipment from other sources.
The FRA emergency order issued on Oct. 1 required some 15 actions to address the fire problems [see “FRA issues an emergency order …,” Trains.com, Oct. 2, 2025]. SEPTA continues to update its progress in meeting those requirements on its website.
