It’s been a frustrating month for SEPTA riders who have been dealing with delays and congested trains as the transit agency works to inspect its Silverliner IV train cars.
SEPTA’s general manager Scott Sauer sat down with NBC10’s Lauren Mayk about what’s next and the agency’s funding situation.
“We’re not fixed. The situation is not resolved,” Sauer said.
Sauer explained that SEPTA doesn’t plan on getting rid of the Silverliner IV trains any time soon but they’re preparing for what it will take to replace the cars.
Now, SEPTA is facing a federal deadline of Nov. 14, 2025, to inspect the aging cars that make up the Regional Rail fleet that are more than half a century old.
“The car issues are an indicator of where we are headed without a long term funding source,” according to Sauer. “We have to extend their life until new cars arrive. We are right at the edge now of issuing a request for proposals to start the process to replace these cars.”
SEPTA is planning to put the cars through a rigorous process to be able to keep them longer, Sauer explained.
Recently, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been critical of SEPTA’s funding solution – which the agency adopted after facing an impasse on state funding – and its management
“I’m management. I’m the face of the organization so when you criticize management it’s really all about me and what I can do to bring management together to resolve these issues for the best interest of our customers. Our customers deserve a good transit system, a safe transit system, so it’s squarely on my shoulders,” Sauer said in response to Duffy’s comments.
Even if SEPTA is able to meet the federal deadline to inspect all of the Silverliner cars, things won’t be back to normal right away for riders.
Sauer told NBC10 that he’ll have a better idea of what that will look like around the end of the year.
For more of Lauren Mayk’s conversation with SEPTA GM Scott Sauer, don’t forget to tune into NBC10 @Issue this Sunday, Nov. 9 at 11:30 a.m.
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