Highlights of SEPTA Strike 2005: Regional Rail shortcomings

If this strike lasts much longer, the entire first page of our forum is going to be about strike issues.

Anyway, one thing the stike has accomplished is it has demonstrated how fragile, mismanaged, underserviced and poorly run our railroad is. Years of service cuts, station closures, and rail fleet size reduction has made it clear the rails can't get you where you need to go reliably. They may go through your neighborhood, but you can't get off there because the station was closed or the line truncated.

My prize for today was a 1-1/2 hour ride home from Suburban to Bridesburg because the "wires came down". Funny how it never affects Amtrak. Well I know this isn't a perfect world, but you would think if the wires were down and trains were stranded, that it might be a bad idea to pack 600 people onto a train, pull 100 feet out of 30th Street and then stop and sit for 45 minutes. Do these guys have a death wish or something?

SEPTA's insistance that they don't operate diesel service is evident in times like this, as they have no diesel "protect" power to bail out stranded trains. Ok, so they have a few sitting at Roberts, but during peak rush, what are the odds that a protect engine is going to wade itself through the tunnel and rescue us?

Equipment is failing, infrastructure is crumbling, crews are short, service is sporadic. What more can we ask for?

It could be worse...for all that we lament about SEPTA, we do still have a working (albeit not well or consistently) railroad, and some of the conductors are pretty cool. We still have eight true trolley lines and 1 sort-of like an interurban. How many regions can say that in America? Which is not to say anyone on this board couldn't run the whole operation better (or at least try harder at it). I'm just pointing out we do have some things to be grateful for.

Thanks, PARailWiz. Coming from the west coast, I think a lot of people over here don't appreciate what we do have. Think of Seattle and the paltry Sounder service and you'll realize how fortunate we are to have a regional rail network like we do.

PARailWiz wrote:We still have eight true trolley lines and 1 sort-of like an interurban. How many regions can say that in America?

At the moment, yours can't either.

The wires came down on #3 Suburban track, which links Zoo to the NEC. It is used primarily by SEPTA trains, namely the R7 and R8. A set of Silverliner II's pulled them down at the beginning of rush hour. Amtrak trains NEVER use that portion of railroad, and as a matter of fact the concrete ties stop at the "84 divider" switch that separates the River line (which goes into lower level 30th street from #3 Suburban which goes to SEPTA land), hence the bumpy ride through Zoo. Actually, they do have diesels to bail out stranded trains, the problem is that they tend to have to get the diesel out to the location around other trains in between, and remember that a lite engine diesel is not operating at passenger train speed. As far as having trains pull out of 30th street and leaving them sit, SEPTA does things like this all the time when something goes wrong on the railroad. They will continue to fill trains and send them into Amtrak territory and leave it to them to sort out the mess. Meanwhile, Amtrak tower operators and dispatchers will run their trains FIRST and eventually get to the measily SEPTA locals. Sorry, but that is the reality of the situation. I've seen it plenty of times, including yesterday.

here's my story regarding the "wires down". Got on the Paoli Local and asked the conductor if the downed wires would affect our train. "that won't affect our train," said he. Liar.

I should have waited for Amtrak. From now on, I will. I have ridden the paoli local for my last time. We sat 100 yards from 30th for almost 45 minutes when one gentleman in my car announced "F--- this S---!" and pulled the red "emergency" handle, opened the doors and climbed out, over the fence and off into the parking lot behind that Drexel building. I decided that course of action made a lot of sense and followed, along with some others. As far as I know, the train sat there another hour.

stupid SEPTA. there was room at the platform for that train to pull up and disgorge passengers from the cab end door but instead they just sat there and punnished everyone.

oh, and before everyone freaks out, I know how dangerous a rail yard is with trains to be expected from any direction at any time. We were on the outside track so I wasn't in fear of a train running me over. I know that footing in a yard leaves something to be desired as well. I'm also surprised that the whole train didn't follow the guy who decided that he'd wasted enough of his life and bailed, especially the pregnant lady who pleaded with the conductor that she had to pee and really had to get off the train.

Although the conductors information was inaccurate, I don't think he 'lied'. Why would he do that? In fact, based on what he knew, he was correct to ASSUME that wires down on #3 Suburban should not have effected a Paoli local operating West on #4 track through Zoo. What may have happened was that either there was another train East or West of you (as they were pretty backed up the night in question) and they COULDN'T simply return to the platform. Trust me, the train crew is just as stuck as the passengers, no restrooms, food , or water. Crews and passengers are at the mercy of the dispatchers when things hit the fan. Lots of chiefs making the decisions, lots of indians trying to interpret which chief to listen to.

jfrey40535 wrote:My prize for today was a 1-1/2 hour ride home from Suburban to Bridesburg because the "wires came down". Funny how it never affects Amtrak.

Maybe you notice more just because you only ride SEPTA. Downed wires almost frequently affect AMTRAK, NJ Transit, and almost every other electric railroad. Just ask the AMTRAK commuters who have been stuck hours on end in the middle of NJ when things go wrong.....