SEPTA Regional Rail: Busy March week ahead...

Everyone: 3/10/2017

SEPTA Regional Rail is looking at a busy week ahead with the Philadelphia Flower Show week beginning Saturday March 11th
(through Sunday March 19th) at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Flower Show week is one of the highest ridership periods
each year for Regional Rail. http://www.theflowershow.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
SEPTA sells admission tickets that cost less then the gate price which can add incentive to use RRD trains to get there...
http://www.septa.org/events/flower.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sunday March 12th will be a particularly busy day with Philadelphia's St.Patrick's Day Parade in Center City also scheduled.

With colder weather - and the added possibility of a major winter storm ahead - it will be interesting if any problems develop
concerning equipment or crew shortages that could significantly affect service. (The storm threat is Tue/Wed 3/14-15 as of
the time of this post) Let's hope SEPTA RRD is up for the task!

MACTRAXX

Well not off to a good start. Most trains on the Reading side showing delays up to 40 minutes. Overhead wire problems.

Today was not a good day for the RRD.
Some trains were delayed 90+ minutes.

Looking at SEPTA.org, there are currently 10 train cancellations in the next hour due to train crew shortages.

NorthPennLimited wrote:Looking at SEPTA.org, there are currently 10 train cancellations in the next hour due to train crew shortages.

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General Announcement: Use caution when travelling today as platforms, parking lots, and vehicles may be icy and/or slippery.
Airport: Trains 453, 463, and 465 have been canceled due to a crew shortage. Trains 461/462, and 465/466 will bus to and from 30th Street.
Cynwyd: Outbound train #1089 has been canceled due to a crew shortage. Passengers can board train #577 to Overbrook to connect with buses.
Paoli/Thorndale: Inbound train #582 is experiencing delays of up to 15 minutes due to an earlier crew shortage.
Trenton: Outbound train #3755 expressing from 30th Street Station to Trenton. Train #757 will accommodate all local passengers.
West Trenton: Inbound train #3755 will express from Langhorne to Jenkintown stations; train #373 will accommodate all local passengers.

Overall, the Flower show didn't seem to have much of an impact on rush hour trains this year (based on my limited observation on the Doylestown Line).

My usual trains still had seating, and parking wasn't an issue at Lansdale or 9th street.

Perhaps the lousy weather may have deterred people from going to the flower show this year? I noticed ramped up efforts this week to keep the mentally ill homeless people away from center city stations. I only saw one person sleeping on a platform bench this week.