January 09, 2026
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
SEPTA is restoring morning express service on Regional Rail lines starting Monday. Enough Silverliner IV cars have cleared inspections to return to the tracks after safety repairs.
Morning express service will be restored on SEPTA's Regional Rail lines on Monday now that enough railcars have cleared inspections to be returned to the tracks, transit officials said Friday.
SEPTA had switched the Regional Rail lines to an all-local schedule, with trains stopping at all stations, during the fall after the transit authority's Silverliner IV cars were removed from service for inspections and repairs mandated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
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The FRA ordered repairs to 223 Silverliner IV railcars following electrical fires in early 2025. These railcars were built in the 1970s, and they account for about two-thirds of SEPTA's total fleet. As of Friday, SEPTA has finished repairs to 180 Silverliner IV cars, which SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer called a "major step" to restoring full Regional Rail service.
"The return of morning express trips will optimize all service by enabling us to more efficiently serve high-volume stations, which will reduce crowding and resulting delays and pass-ups on local trains," Sauer said in a press release.
SEPTA said suspending the morning express trains eliminated a total of 24 trips on SEPTA's six most heavily traveled Regional Rail lines: Paoli/Thorndale, Media/Wawa, Lansdale/Doylestown, Manayunk/Norristown, Wilmington/Newark and West Trenton. Commuters should double-check trains schedules before Monday morning because stations where trains had made stops since October will now be skipped on some trips.
Evening express trips returned in late November, and SEPTA received 10 cars from the Maryland Area Regional Commuter Rail in December as a temporary solution while the Silverliner IV fleet was being repaired.
The repaired Silverliner IV cars "are performing extremely well" since returning to the tracks, Sauer said.
