Cancellation of KOP rail left $340M extra in SEPTA’s capital budget. Here’s how it will be spent.
SEPTA's 2024 capital budget includes dollars to acquire new train cars to replace aged ones and address a mounting backlog of repairs.
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SEPTA plans to spend $977 million over the next fiscal year to push forward construction of new infrastructure — including a modernized trolley system — to acquire new train cars to replace aged ones, and to address a mounting backlog of repairs.
Those projects are detailed in the transit authority’s latest capital budget, which will be released Tuesday and lays out a 12-year plan to spend $12.6 billion.
One wrinkle this year: With the recent demise of the King of Prussia rail extension project, SEPTA suddenly had an extra $340 million to throw into the infrastructure mix.
Trolley modernization will get an additional $100 million from the decision to cancel KOP rail, and $200 million more will be go toward replacing Silverliner IV Regional Rail cars that are nearly 50 years old, said CEO and General Manager Leslie S. Richards. In addition, SEPTA will be able to make more transit rail stations accessible for people with mobility issues, sooner than they would have been, she said.
“It’s allowed us to accelerate projects that were on the [12-year] capital plan,” Richards said.
Last month, SEPTA stopped the 4-mile extension of the Norristown High Speed line to serve King of Prussia and the Valley Forge casino after it failed to get a federal grant for final design and the start of construction.
The projected cost had swelled to $3 billion, and SEPTA officials said the Federal Transit Administration was concerned that the transit authority would not have enough money to cover likely cost overruns while maintaining the assets it already has. In part, that is because SEPTA gets less financial support from state and local governments than other agencies, the officials said.
Some of the planned projects rely on the assumption that SEPTA will win its share of federal grants available in the U.S. infrastructure law over the next decade. Here are highlights of the capital budget:
Trolley modernization. The project will receive $157 million in fiscal year 2024, which begins July 1. All told, SEPTA’s capital plan envisions spending $1.63 billion through 2035 on the project, including money spent this year. About $790 million will be used to acquire at least 130 new streetcars with low floors and ramp extensions that will make the eight-line trolley system accessible to people with disabilities for the first time. An additional $834 million will be used to make trolley stations at 19th, 22nd, 33rd, 36th and 37th Streets accessible and to build about 120 new trolley stops with raised and accessible platforms so the network functions like a light-rail system — and trolleys don’t get stuck in traffic. SEPTA hopes to finish the project by 2035 but estimates that it will need to get about $600 million more in funding to do so.
New rail cars for the Market-Frankford Line. SEPTA will spend $800 million for new rail cars on the El and an additional $150 million for a new signal system and other improvements along the line. The 25-year-old El cars need regular repairs and are becoming more unreliable. Erik Johanson, senior director of budgets and transformation, said the $950 million project is fully funded.
Replacement of 200 Silverliner IV Regional Rail cars. Between 2028 and 2034, SEPTA will spend an estimated $650 million on these upgrades. The cars were designed and built by General Electric and delivered to SEPTA between 1973 and 1976. The agency has already set aside about half the amount needed for those new cars, Johanson said.
Bus Revolution. The overhaul of SEPTA’s bus network is to be “cost-neutral,” meaning that levels of service and staffing will be reallocated among the routes and not increased. But the capital budget also includes $163 million through 2035 to build end-of-line restrooms for bus drivers and measures to help buses move more quickly through traffic. Those could include dedicated bus lanes, traffic signals that prioritize buses, and “queue jump lanes” that let buses bypass other traffic at intersections, the budget says.
Even with bulked-up federal infrastructure funding, SEPTA needs more local resources to maximize its chances of winning competitive grants from Washington for transit infrastructure projects, Richards said. The grants require that locals pay for a percentage of the cost. Officials estimate that SEPTA should be in the running for some of the $1.8 billion in new grant money to be awarded over the next decade.
“We don’t want to leave any money on the table there,” Richards said.
Riders can learn more about the transit agency’s capital budget on May 10 at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., either in person at SEPTA’s offices, 1234 Market St., or virtually. Registration for virtual access will be published on septa.org before the meeting.