Countdown clocks are coming to SEPTA subways this spring
Riders have wanted this technology — standard on most transit systems, including PATCO — for years.
SEPTA riders know that sometimes the best way to find out when your subway train is arriving is to peer down the tracks for the telltale headlamp.
But help is on the way, as SEPTA begins to roll out digital countdown clocks on subway platforms this spring, according to a report from KYW. The first arrival-time display is scheduled to be operating by the end of March at 13th Street Station on the Market-Frankford Line.
Riders have wanted this technology — standard on most transit systems, including PATCO — for years. SEPTA has been working on it but had to put the project on hold in 2020 after a malware attack crashed the transit agency’s IT systems.
“We know people have been waiting awhile for this, and we’re excited to get going,” spokesperson Andrew Busch said.
SEPTA does have real-time information for rail and bus service on its app, as do some other platforms such as Moovit and TransitApp.
Originally, SEPTA planned to have Broad Street Line stations outfitted with countdown clocks by the end of 2020, Busch said. Arrival information will be displayed on the digital signs already in stations that now show the location, time, and service announcements, he said.
After a brief trial period at 13th Street to make sure the software is communicating accurate information from the signal system that tracks the location of the trains, SEPTA will wire up the other stations on the El.
“It’s a challenging program because, while we have a great signal system [on MFL], it’s 20 years old, and when it was built, it wasn’t equipped to communicate with signs,” Busch said. “We were adding new software onto the old system.”
The Broad Street Line would get countdown clocks next, followed by the trolley stations in the Center City tunnel and the Norristown High Speed Line, he said. SEPTA also eventually plans to install the clocks at outlying Regional Rail stations; stations in Center City already have them.
SEPTA has a $35 million contract with Alstom, a multinational manufacturer based in France that builds trains, railroad signaling systems, and digital mobility software, to modernize its communications with riders.