SEPTA Regional Rail - Fleet

Fleet

SEPTA uses a mixed fleet of Budd Company, General Electric and St. Louis Car Company "Silverliner" electric multiple unit (EMU) self-operated cars, used on all Regional Rail lines. SEPTA also uses push-pull equipment: coaches built by Bombardier and Pullman Standard, hauled by AEM-7 or ALP-44 electric locomotives identical to those used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit (NJT). The push-pull equipment is used exclusively for Wilmington/Newark Line, West Trenton Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, and Trenton Line peak express service because it accelerates more slowly than the EMU equipment, making it less suitable for local service with close station spacing and frequent stops and starts.

As of 2012, all cars have a blended red-and-blue SEPTA window logo and "ditch lights" that flash at grade crossings and when "deadheading" through stations, as required by Amtrak for operations on the Northeast and Keystone Corridors. SEPTA's railroad reporting mark SEPA is the official mark for their revenue equipment, though it is rarely seen on external markings. SPAX can be seen on non-revenue work equipment, including boxcars, diesel locomotives, and other rolling stock.

The "Silverliner" coaches, built by Budd in Philadelphia and first used by the PRR in 1958 as the "Pioneer III" for a prototype intercity EMU alternative to the GG1-hauled trains, were purchased by SEPTA in 1963 as "Silverliner II" units. In 1967, the PRR took delivery of the St. Louis-built "Silverliner III" cars, which featured left-hand side controls (railroad cars traditionally have right-hand side controls) and flush toilets (since removed), and were used primarily for Harrisburg-Philadelphia service. The Silverliner II and III cars were designated under the PRR MP85 class. Some "Silverliner III" cars were converted for exclusive Airport Line use; they featured special luggage racks where the old toilet closets were located, yellow window paintings, and the Philadelphia International Airport's "PHL" logo. The bulk of the fleet are "Silverliner IV" coaches built by General Electric in Philadelphia and Erie with Budd components; these were delivered in 1973–76, before the formation of Conrail.

SEPTA is currently retiring the "Silverliner II" and "Silverliner III" cars and replacing them with the "Silverliner V" model. A total of 120 new "Silverliner V" cars are to be built, with the first three entering service on October 29, 2010. The cost for all 120 cars is $274 million, and they are being constructed in facilities located in South Philadelphia and South Korea by Hyundai Rotem. As of October 2012, about 113 cars have been delivered, 108 of which are in service, while five are undergoing testing. The remaining seven cars are awaiting delivery of components, and are slated to enter service in 2013.

All Silverliner models are compatible with one another, now that the "Pioneer III" (Silverliner I) coaches have been scrapped. (One survived on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in nearby Strasburg.)

SEPTA also owns two "Arrow II" EMU cars built by Budd and once operated by New Jersey Transit for its electrified service to and from New York City and Hoboken Terminal. The "Arrow II" car is nearly identical to that of the "Silverliner IV", but lacks the distinctive dynamic brake roof "hump" on the car, and has a "diamond" pantograph instead of the "T" pantograph used on the "Silverliner". The "Arrow II" are used as part of work trains, such as catenary inspection and leaf removal.

The entire system uses 12,000-volt/25 Hz overhead catenary lines that were erected by the PRR and RDG railroads between 1915 and 1938. All current SEPTA equipment is compatible with the power supplies on both the ex-PRR (Amtrak-supplied) and ex-RDG (SEPTA-supplied) sides of the system; the "phase break" is at the northern entrance to the Center City commuter tunnel between the Market East Station and the Temple University Station.

• SEPTA train 256 in 1974

• SEPTA train 213 in 1974

• Silverliner II No. 269 still carrying "PENNSYLVANIA" name boards.

• Eastbound SEPTA 145 making a station stop in Paoli, in 1993.

• Train of Silverliner II and III cars entering the Temple University Station in May 2006.

• SEPTA AEM-7 engine 2301 enters the Temple University station.

• GE Silverliner IV at 30th Street Station.

• Rotem Silverliner V at Chestnut Hill West Station.

SEPTA passenger rolling stock includes: