Ongoing Regional Rail Service Delays not addressed

[R5Dailyrider]

Why does SEPTA continue to avoid addressing the continuing delays across the Regional Rail system. In particular the lines running through Fern Rock have been impacted daily for the past few weeks. I think it's time SEPTA ditched the corney radio ad's that tout the service and the new "SEPTA KEY" and actually address the service they provide. The GM is never to be found and the whole management/Media Relations department at SEPTA is overstaffed by hacks. Fares are moving up again and service and SEPTA continue to underperform.

[NorthPennLimited]

You must be new. Wait until the summer and equipment & signals break down during prolonged heat waves, then crew shortages start rearing it's ugly head as vacation season starts.

Seriously though, SEPTA is going through a lot of growing pains. The last gasoline price spike 6 years ago caused a surge in regional rail ridership. On top of that, in the early 80's when SEPTA assumed commuter train operations from Conrail, there was a long strike when RR workers refused to take wage cuts and union agreement rule givebacks that were far below pattern railroad rates of pay and work rules, as a result, a lot of the Conrail men left SEPTA which caused a surge in hiring.

Flash forward 35 years later, and now all those workers are retiring. So SEPTA has new train crews, new train dispatchers, new train mechanics, track workers, catenary linemen, managers, etc. A lot of institutional experience has been lost and there will be a lot of lessons re-learned the hard way since there are only a few dinosaurs left to mentor the new guys from making the same rookie mistakes of the past. Couple that to an emerging Gen-X and Millenial work force who aren't as self-motivated to work long hours and accept constructive criticism and you have a recipe for today's state of rail service.

In order to retain whatever talent is remaining in the work force from leaving SEPTA to work for other places for higher wages and benefits, you have to maintain competitive salaries with other railroads, hence the bump in fares.

It's kind of like scrapping a roster on a major sports team and recruiting rookies for your starting line-up. They just need time, good coaching, and experience to get back to the playoffs or divisional championship again.

Each time you look at the monitor and see the delayed trains in red, or your morning express is following a local train, tell yourself "THIS STILL BEATS SITTING IN TRAFFIC ON THE SCHUYLKILL". That's how I rationalize it. Sometimes I get fed-up and drive, then I realize the grass isn't greener behind the steering wheel, and parking costs an arm and a leg downtown.

[R5Dailyrider]

NorthPenn:

I appreciate your comments. Based on your thoughts it seems to come down to two common denominators- staff and infrastructure.

Seems like the physical plant has had millions poured into it with many more needed. The staff issue is very troubling but you would hope an employee would like to recognized and rewarded for performance. SEPTA has some serious issues and with the current entrenched Board od Directors I doubt anything "new" will develop.

Most days the train beats the car but the lackadaisical operating practices are a joke. What happened to line managers and pride in their lines?

[JeffersonLeeEng]

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/t ... 70621.html

Regular riders on the Regional Rail’s West Trenton Line know all has not been well on the 42-mile long route.

Since April, the line has experienced major delays four times, most recently Tuesday morning, when trains were delayed up to an hour.

[MACTRAXX]

JLE and Everyone:

After reading Jason Laughlin's article about the West Trenton Line I will make two mentions:

First - The West Trenton Line is not 42 miles in length - Back in the late 80s/early 90s era SEPTA
RRD timetables had mileages listed. West Trenton to Suburban Station is 33.0 miles exactly...

The 42 mile mention must be from the addition of the Airport Line trackage to the total...

Second - The two types of RRD catenary have distinct names:

The two-wire type is SIMPLE catenary while the three wire type is COMPOUND catenary.

From what I recall is the Airport Line from the connecting bridge to Amtrak NEC tracks to the end
of track at Terminal E is the only stretch of SEPTA RRD track with constant tension catenary.

If there has been any constant tension catenary installed on the West Trenton Line (or anyplace
else on RRD in recent years) please mention whereabouts and when if it is known...

This time of year especially during extreme heat catenary wires tend to sag and can be vulnerable
to damage meaning the implementation of speed restrictions to try and mitigate problems...

Interesting to notice that even with wire replacement on the West Trenton Line that catenary wire
troubles have been a recurring problem. It may well take installing constant tension catenary on
the entire 21.7 mile route from Jenkintown to West Trenton to try and solve these wire problems.

MACTRAXX

[NorthPennLimited]

I notice a lot of places lost steady spans when the catenary was upgraded. Would reinstalling steady spans take some of the vibration and bouncing out of the wire?

[ekt8750]

JLE and Everyone:

After reading Jason Laughlin's article about the West Trenton Line I will make two mentions:

First - The West Trenton Line is not 42 miles in length - Back in the late 80s/early 90s era SEPTA
RRD timetables had mileages listed. West Trenton to Suburban Station is 33.0 miles exactly...

The 42 mile mention must be from the addition of the Airport Line trackage to the total...

Second - The two types of RRD catenary have distinct names:

The two-wire type is SIMPLE catenary while the three wire type is COMPOUND catenary.

From what I recall is the Airport Line from the connecting bridge to Amtrak NEC tracks to the end
of track at Terminal E is the only stretch of SEPTA RRD track with constant tension catenary.

If there has been any constant tension catenary installed on the West Trenton Line (or anyplace
else on RRD in recent years) please mention whereabouts and when if it is known...

This time of year especially during extreme heat catenary wires tend to sag and can be vulnerable
to damage meaning the implementation of speed restrictions to try and mitigate problems...

Interesting to notice that even with wire replacement on the West Trenton Line that catenary wire
troubles have been a recurring problem. It may well take installing constant tension catenary on
the entire 21.7 mile route from Jenkintown to West Trenton to try and solve these wire problems.

MACTRAXX

Actually the Airport Line's constant tension catenary was replaced with standard compound wire a few years ago.

[Head-end View]

Isn't that a step backwards? Why would they do that?

[SCB2525]

Actually the Airport Line's constant tension catenary was replaced with standard compound wire a few years ago.

Not all of it. I believe its still in most of the middle section where freight is commingled.

Isn't that a step backwards? Why would they do that?

Possibly an obsolete system, almost certainly not maintained properly. Cheaper to just replace with simple catenary.