The ever-informed part-time SEPTA employee Pa_SuburbanGuy has been issuing all sorts of useful info for mass consumption to the SEPTA lovers on LiveJournal. I'm going to pull some of his advice together into one post, because the man knows what he's talking about.
1. Expect delays on Regional Rail trains early in the strike.
Be warned...it is possible that the TWU or UTU may establish picket lines at outlying Regional Rail yards in the first days of a work stoppage. If that happens, the trains will NOT roll at that location until an injunction is granted.Union members on Regional Rail (UTU and BLET representing train and engine crews) WILL honor a TWU or UTU picket line and not cross it until it is cleared.
2. The R2 Wilmington, R5 Thorndale (maybe), and R7 Trenton lines are pretty safe from stike action.
Trenton is the only place they store equipment on the Amtrak-owned lines, since there are no storage facilities on the line to Wilmington/Newark. I'd say they're pretty safe as well.R5 Thorndale can get thorny, as pickets could possibly be set up at the Frazer yard entrance...
3. SEPTA has a limited number of trains they can run on the Regional Rail tracks.
Part of the problem is that SEPTA has no extra rail equipment or personnel to run extra trains. They can only get a limited number of extra trips with what they do have.During the 1998 strike, they borrowed cars from Virginia Railway Express to create one extra trainset to run between Bryn Mawr and Center City. This time around, they do not have that option, as the cars in question have been retired by VRE, and no other agency has equipment to spare.
Also, the number of trains they can run on the R5-Thorndale, the R2-Wilmington/Newark, and the R7-Trenton are partially dictated by Amtrak schedules and their ability to handle SEPTA trains en-route or at turnaround points without delaying their own trains.
4. Strike breaking is not an option. It just doesn't work that way in this city.
Nope...they've never done that. If they tried that here, things would get ugly fast.They will run pilot trains every hour or so on the El and Broad St. Line with supervision just to keep the rails shined up and signals working.
There you go. Four pieces of strike wisdom, thanks to a local SEPTA expert. All four are direct quotes from the man himself. Now I'm going to go back to my corner and be terrified, THX.
This tidbit is also available on the Philadelphia MetBlog.
pilot trains?
what does that mean? there won't be any passengers?
Just wonderful!
Ok, so it's bad enough I was going to have to walk 2 miles to get to a regional rail train both ways, now I may not even be able to get to work because of a picket line? I don't own a car and rely on SEPTA to get my groceries, go to and from work, and I even use it to travel and see my family who lives out of state. I don't have a driver's license, and I don't know anyone who lives near by in order to "get a lift" to work. And I know I'm not the only one who is in my situation.
The contingency annoucements that are being made assume everyone that lives in this area have all of these friends and relatives, and it should be a sure thing to be able to borrow a car...guess what? You're wrong. I would love to be able to take the time off while SEPTA is on strike, but I was hit by a truck almost two months ago, and have no sick or vacation time left. I will lose pay, and possibly lose my job that I've had for several years all because of you.
But I've been faithful to SEPTA. I've dealt with the rate hikes, the consistently late service, scheduling my life around your timetables..and that's just for the 6 years I've lived here. I have yet to reach the breaking point and decide that I must get my license because I can't take SEPTA anymore.
So thank you SEPTA, thank you UTU. I understand that there are things that need to be worked out, but storming out of negotiations doesn't help anything. It doesn't help you, it doesn't help SEPTA, it doesn't help the 400,000 daily commuters. I am asking as one of the 400,000, please do not picket the regional rail lines. It's bad enough we have to make all of these extra efforts to get to work or school now, please don't keep us from the one and only last resort.
Right. No passengers, just a
Right. No passengers, just a train to keep the rails useable.
It's not like there will be anyone to let us underground anyway, as best I understand it...