(Source: Billy Penn, June 14, 2023)
The unexpected shutdown of I-95 could end up giving SEPTA a much-needed boost — if it can find enough engineers to maintain an expanded schedule of trains. SEPTA currently has only 178 engineers, the highly trained operators who run the Regional Rail trains, down from 209 before the pandemic. It’s budgeted for 213 and arguably needs closer to 230, according to Don Hill, a locomotive engineer and general chairman of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 71.
“They had to cancel a whole train line to try to provide a little bit more train service,” Hill said, referring to this week’s switch of the Cynwyd line to buses. “Headcount is a major, major problem here.”
SEPTA’s also short on train conductors, with 208 on staff compared to 243 four years ago. The number of assistance conductors/trainees stands at 238, down from 257 before.
Full story: Billy Penn