The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday urged Philadelphia’s regional transit authority to suspend use of more than half of the rail cars that serve the transit agency’s regional lines, saying the aging trains pose an “unacceptable” risk of fires.
The dangers emerged in February, when a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority rail car was destroyed in a fire, prompting an N.T.S.B. investigation of the agency, known as SEPTA. Four other train fires have occurred since, including one last week in which train crews ignored an illuminated warning light, according to the N.T.S.B. report released on Wednesday.
The N.T.S.B. cannot compel action by SEPTA, which is regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration, but the board is the government’s chief transportation safety body, and its reports and recommendations carry considerable weight.
In its report, it said SEPTA should lay out a plan within 30 days to replace or retrofit rail cars from its Silverliner IV fleet, which includes about 225 cars and has been in service since the mid-1970s.
“We all see the urgency in this,” said Scott A. Sauer, the general manager of SEPTA, at a news conference on Wednesday. “While I was surprised by the recommendation, we share their concern. We won’t put a car out there that won’t pass our inspection process.”
Among the measures that Mr. Sauer said are being taken is placing inspectors in Philadelphia stations to examine warning lights, which have been ignored in at least two recent cases.
The N.T.S.B.’s conclusions were the latest blow to SEPTA, which serves Philadelphia and suburbs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
Mounting budget troubles came to a head in August, with fare increases and cuts to many bus and rail routes just as students were returning to school. A few weeks later, a judge ordered the cuts to be rolled back, and the transit agency’s $213 million budget shortfall ended up being covered by a state fund.
Now, SEPTA faces the N.T.S.B’s urgent concerns about the aging fleet of trains that serve the lines that connect Philadelphia and its suburbs, with about 90,000 passenger trips on an average weekday.
“We’re going to keep them in service with a very intense inspection schedule and intensive efforts by employees in the field and in our yard facilities and shops, making sure they’re monitoring any potential trouble areas,” said Andrew Busch, a spokesman for SEPTA.
In the February fire, more than 300 passengers had to be evacuated, and four of them sustained injuries.
SEPTA has long sought to upgrade its fleet, but Mr. Busch said that the agency has been underfunded by the state compared to other regional rail systems like ones that serve Boston and Washington. Even if adequate funding were in place, replacing the fleet would take five to seven years, he said.
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