Cold Takes Toll On SEPTA Riders, Equipment
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Sub-freezing temperatures are hard on equipment, but also hard on passengers waiting outdoors for their ride.
And Andrew Kaplan, a regular on the Paoli-Thorndale line, says it's been happening with disturbing frequency, "This winter time they've had a lot of problems. I don't know what the deal with SEPTA is this year. I mean you think during the winter time they could learn to run on time but they don't seem to be able to do that as of late."
Kaplan squeezed on to a train that was packed because an earlier train was cancelled and the next was half an hour late.
The cold weather of the last few weeks has created lots of problems on Septa's regional rail lines. One of those problems is letting passengers know what's going on.
"I was standing there so long, my feet are numb. (Reporter: How long were you waiting?) I was waiting an hour."
Rhonda takes the Paoli Thorndale line into Center City in the morning. In yesterday's frigid temperatures, one train was cancelled and the next one was half-an-hour late, meaning passengers were packed in, cheek by jowl, forcing her to push her way on for the stand-up ride in. But her real beef?
"The problem is you don't really get announcements. They're coming from some central source and the person in your station doesn't really know what's going on."
That should not be the case, says SEPTA's chief control center officer Ron Hopkins, "We have a phone tree set up where we pass down delays or cancellations. We'll have to follow up on that one. I'm not sure why they didn't have that information."
Hopkins says the Paoli line does present a special challenge because Amtrak controls part of the line and Septa can't "see" problems there the way it can on its other lines.
Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio
