PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia judge has ordered the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to restore the service it cut beginning Aug. 24, but will allow a fare increase to move forward.
The order on Thursday (Sept. 4, 2025) from Judge Sierra Thomas-Street of the Court of Common Pleas calls for SEPTA to “immediately cease and desist” all existing route cuts, service reductions, layoffs and furloughs, as well as blocking the cuts that had been placed on hold following an Aug. 29 hearing [see “Temporary injunction blocks …,” Trains.com, Aug. 29, 2025]. The ruling will remain in effect “until further order” of the court.
The agency’s actions in August included reduced frequencies on Metro rail service, an end to special services such as Sports Express trains, and elimination of 32 bus lines, but the earlier injunction prevented cuts to Regional Rail service while also blocking a 21.5% fare increase that had been planned for Sept. 1.
The action follows the second hearing on a lawsuit filed by three SEPTA riders that claims the transit agency is “making up” the funding crisis in an effort to gain increased state funding, arguing that the agency can use an existing stabilization fund to address its $213 million deficit.
“We couldn’t have asked for anything more,” attorney George Bochetto, who filed the lawsuit, told WCAU-TV.
A SEPTA spokesman told WPVI-TV that the agency plans to comply with the order, but that even an “immediate” restoration will take time, and that its legal team is considering its options.
“We did make very clear that there are certain baseline things we need to do to make sure we’re doing this safely,” spokesman Andrew Busch said Thursday. “That’s safety for our workforce and safety for our riders, so immediately was never going to be tomorrow morning.” Also still to be determined is when the fare increase — which will increase base fares from $2.50 to $2.90 — will take effect.
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