Regional Rail service will increase as SEPTA adds more trains
Regional Rail ridership has recovered more slowly than on subways, trolleys, and buses since the pandemic, with lower service levels on the commuter lines.
Next month, SEPTA will begin running 99 more Regional Rail trains on the weekend and 24 more on weekdays to meet demand and shorten gaps in service that have frustrated riders during off-peak hours, transportation agency officials said Monday.
“Customers have been saying they want more choices, and we’re giving them more choices,” Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer said. The additional service will help meet current and pent-up demand, particularly on weekends and outside of traditional commuter rushes, he said.
The move comes as SEPTA deals with a $240 million operating deficit and an acute need for more stable state transit funding from Harrisburg, which did not materialize in the budget lawmakers passed in early July.
When the new trips are added, beginning with a new fall schedule Sept. 8, Regional Rail service will increase to 80% of its pre-COVID level on weekdays, up from 77%. On weekends, service will be restored to 84% of what it was in 2019, up from 63% currently.
Regional Rail ridership fell further and faster than it did on SEPTA’s other travel modes in early 2020, driven in large measure by a drop in traditional commuting patterns that have not fully returned despite employers mandating more in-office workdays.
SEPTA began planning the coming Regional Rail service increases early in 2023 to begin growing ridership again, Sauer said, and is able to staff more trains because it has recruited and trained additional engineers. It had a record low roster of fewer than 175 engineers 18 months ago and now has 189, Sauer added.
“How long can we sustain it? That’s a question that will be answered in the fall,” he said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and GOP leaders who hold the majority in the state Senate say they are committed to taking up additional funding for the state’s transit agencies in late September.
It soon will cost Regional Rail passengers more to park as SEPTA ends four years of free parking, offered as a pandemic enticement, and increases the fees at three parking garages and 96 surface lots at rail stations.
A spot in the surface lots will rise to $2 daily, from $1. Garage space will cost $4 a day instead of $2. The changes will be phased in over about two months beginning Sept. 23.
“We’re still a pretty good deal,” Elizabeth Smith, chief of staff for the transportation authority, said recently.
Riders have complained for a few years that Regional Rail trains are so infrequent as to be unusable getting to and from the city. Some lines at times have two- to three-hour headways between trains, Sauer said.
The increased services will include:
• Full restoration of 30-minute weekend service to the Philadelphia International Airport.
• Full restoration of hourly weekend service on most lines.
• Additional off-peak (late night and midday) and reverse peak service on most lines.
• Additional railcars on select trains to mitigate overcrowding.