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SEPTA Board To Vote On Big Borrowing

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - This week the SEPTA board will vote on whether to borrow a quarter-billion dollars to pay for the new regional rail trains that are to be delivered this year.

SEPTA ordered 120 new regional rail cars, dubbed the Silverliner, back in 2007. Six trains have been delivered and the rest are coming this year. That means the big bills are soon due.

Rich Burnfield, SEPTA's Chief Financial Officer, said, "We're asking the SEPTA board to authorize staff to enter into a bond issue, up to $250 million, to pay for 120 new rail cars."

Burnfield adds that since the life of the new railcars is 30 plus years, it is prudent to pay for them with a borrowing that lasts 25 years.

About $200 million of the $250 million borrowed will go the pay for the new cars. Some of the remainder will be used for a renovation of the Wayne Junction station, which dates to 1901 and is in bad disrepair. The SEPTA board's vote comes Thursday.

Reported by Mike Dunn, KYW Newsradio

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