PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has completed inspections of its Silverliner IV electric multiple-unit railcars, the agency says, but the amount of Regional Rail equipment available will remain significantly constrained until cars can be repaired.
SEPTA originally faced an Oct. 31 deadline for inspection of the 233-car fleet following a series of fires, but the Federal Railroad Administration granted an extension to today (Nov. 14, 2025). KYW Radio reports that SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said the agency met the deadline “by hours, essentially,” but that about half the cars will require repairs before they can be returned to service. Repair work had not begun because of the manpower needed to complete the inspection process.
SEPTA — which previously projected service disruptions would continue the remainder of the year — expects to be able to return about five cars to service per day. “It’ll take a little time,” Sauer said, “but that’s going to gradually add up to create more capacity for our customers and make a significant improvement in reliability.”
A Facebook post says Sauer spent the day thanking maintenance employees for their around-the-clock work to meet the inspection deadline.
An FRA emergency order required inspection of the 233-car Silverliner IV fleet for “precusor conditions that increase the likelihood of a fire or thermal event.” An update on the SEPTA website says the agency has completed that task, as well as almost all related requirements. Still to be completed is the installation of thermal protection circuits intended to shut off power when overheating is detected; the FRA had extended the deadline for that work until Dec. 5. About 70 cars have been outfitted with those sensors as of Friday.
The equipment shortage resulting from the inspections has led SEPTA to run Regional Rail trains with fewer cars than normal, and to cancel at least 22 trains a day from Monday until today. The agency will decide this weekend if those advance cancellations will continue next week.
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