SEPTA may not have gotten the new funding it sought for over a year after announcing it was facing a “death spiral” late last year.
Beyond that, state officials did not approve of an effort to provide new funding for SEPTA earlier this year and new mass transit funding is not part of next year’s state budget.
But, on Monday, Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled a new funding influx of nearly $220 million — $219.9 to be exact — into SEPTA safety and infrastructure improvement in an effort to provide some relief to the long embattled mass transit provider.
Shapiro said he has directed PennDOT to allocate capitol funding from the Public Transit Trust Fund for the improvements.
“This system is now in serious need of capitol improvements,” Shapiro said of SEPTA. “And, funding is needed to make the kind of upgrades that will keep its ridership safe.”
The funding would break down like this:
- $95 million to address issues with the Silverline IV and Silverliner V cars, including upgraded electrical systems, upgraded propulsion systems, and more.
- $17 million to lease 10 cars from MARC and tentatively purchase 20 cars from Montreal’s Exo system.
- $48.4 million to update the overhead catenary wires and tunnel infrastructure for trolleys and new equipment to allow for more efficient inspections and maintenance of trolley infrastructure.
- $51.5 million to upgrade 13 escalators at SEPTA stations, purchase advanced inspection technology, and implement technology improvements at SEPTA’s Control Center.
- $8 million to install replacement parts for Broad Street Line and Norristown High Speed Line cars.
During his comments, Shapiro recalled that SEPTA struggled to bridge a multi-million dollar budget gap and had been under the gun in an effort to get federally mandated safety inspections of it’s aging fleet of Silverliner IV trains completed, after missing an initial deadline.
But, as of Monday, Shapiro said more than 100 Silverliner IV’s trains have been repaired and placed back into service.
He said that it could take 10 years for all of SEPTA’s Silverliner IV trains to be replaced.
But, this new investment, he said, would permit SEPTA to fully comply with the federally mandated safety improvements and would allow the mass transit provider’s fleet of Silverliner IV trains operational, and running safely, as SEPTA works to get new trains.
“We cannot let SEPTA fail. We have to continue to be there for SEPTA and all mass transit agencies. It’s too important for our economy. It’s too important for our communities. It’s too important for our Commonwealth,” said Shapiro.
And, he said, the new investment would allow SEPTA to restore it’s typical weekday Regional Rail services by the end of December.
And, even though the new funding won’t provide new regular, ongoing operating funds for mass transit, the move, according to SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer, amounts to nothing less than a lifeline for SEPTA.
“For the second year in a row, Governor Shapiro has stepped up and offered a lifeline to public transit in the southeast,” said Sauer. “More than ever before, we now have something we can look to to meet all of the deadlines that we have in front of us and all the challenges that we face. Thanks to the governor, with these new capitol dollars, we can move on a number of issues that will improve service.”
This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.
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