SEPTA GM on regional rail service disruptions, possible union strike

SEPTA GM Scott Sauer joined Good Day Philadelphia to discuss delays and cancellations that continue to hamper regional rail lines after a federal safety report forced the transit authority to pull some train cars from its fleet. All this comes as TWU Local 234, a workers union, is mulling a strike with their contract a month away from its expiration.

PHILADELPHIA – As thousands of commuters continue to face massive delays and service disruptions to train service, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) gave an update Thursday on when the trains taken out of service could possibly come back.

Why have so many cars been taken out of service?

The backstory:

There have been five fires involving SEPTA’s Silverliner IV cars in 2025. After the first three fires, SEPTA representatives met with officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Railroad Authority (FRA), to figure out what was going wrong. SEPTA officials walked out of that meeting with plans to possibly solve the issues, according to the FRA. But, in September, there were two fires on Silverliner IV cars in one week.

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After those fires, the FRA issued an order calling for a comprehensive audit of SEPTA’s inspection and training policies, and required enhanced inspections of all Silverner IV cars.

“These two most recent incidents point to failures in the implementation of SEPTA’s proposed mitigation plan, or the inadequacy of the mitigation plan itself, or both, and highlight additional concerns that SEPTA must address,” the FRA wrote in its order, issued on Oct. 1.

In the latest fire, the FRA said that multiple people ignored a warning light that had gone off on the train car the day before the fire.

What they’re saying:

The order gave SEPTA 30 days to inspect all the cars. More than a week into that process, SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said that so far, just “10 or 12” of the 225 Silverliner IV cars have been inspected. The cars make up nearly 60% of SEPTA’s entire regional rail fleet.

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Sauer said that “it’s been tedious work to get started,” and that they’ve had to train staff on new inspection processes. But, Sauer added that “we expect that process to improve as we go, as people become more efficient in the inspection process, and we get better at it.”

SEPTA braces for possible strike

SEPTA is preparing for a potential strike as the contract with its largest workers’ union, TWU Local 234, is set to expire next month.

What’s causing the SEPTA fires?

What we don’t know:

While the NTSB is still investigating the root cause of all five fires, Sauer said that after the five fires, SEPTA crews now “know what to look for” and is hopeful that new inspections will help stop future fires.

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When could the Silverliner IV cars return to service?

Why you should care:

All 225 Silverliner IV cars must be inspected. 

Sauer said that many of the cars taken out of service are awaiting inspection, but also that SEPTA is taking cars out of service if engineers report any issues.

“We are improving as each day goes by. As more and more cars become available, it’ll be much more predictable for customers,” Sauer said. “I appreciate what they’ve had to go through a great deal. I appreciate their patience with us thus far.”

But even after the 30 days mandated by the FRA’s order, Sauer expects these cars will still need inspections more regularly.

“We have to do these enhanced inspections probably for the remainder of the time that we hold these cars,” Sauer said. “So while I can’t promise a timeline that it ends on a particular date, this probably is our new reality that we’re just going to have to find a way to get these cars through this inspection process more often than we had been, and then we have to find a way to buy new cars.”

How long would it take to replace the cars?

Timeline:

Buying new train cars though, is a lengthy process.

According to Sauer, the design and engineering alone could take several years. From there, they would need about a year of testing. Once that’s complete, SEPTA wouldn’t just get a new fleet of train cars overnight, Sauer says, but rather “four to six per month until we have them all.”

And Sauer says that in an ideal world he would want to replace all 225 Silverliner IV cars, which he estimates would cost about $2 billion.

“They’re 50 years old. We’ve worked them well to their useful life, but we don’t want to run 50-year-old equipment,” Sauer said. “But unfortunately, because of funding, historical underfunding in our capital program, this is what we’re faced with today.”

Are SEPTA trains safe?

When asked Wednesday if the trains in service were safe, Sauer said “100%,” adding that he “would stake anything on the fact that these cars are safe.”

“I believe every car we put out on the road is safe. We’re not going to let anything get out there that isn’t, which is exactly why you’re seeing the car shortages you’re seeing. We’re not going to risk something bad happening in the interest of making sure we get service out, we’re going to get as much service as we can get out safely.”

The Source: Information in this story is from a media availability with SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer on Oct. 9, 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into recent SEPTA fires, an Emergency Order issued by the Federal Railroad Administration and previous FOX 29 reports.

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