Our webmaster wrote about this inicident on his blog, but notes that there is no media coverage and this lasted for quite a while. Here is what Doug has to say as of 9:21 pm October 1st:
SEPTA decided to close Market East Station at 7 PM tonight for "police activity". This stranded myself and several thousand commuters both in the city, and in trains on their way to the city. Market East was completely evacuated. At the time I spoke to a SEPTA employee at Suburban Station around 8 PM, he stated that they were waiting on the "all clear" from the police before they could re-open the station.
Despite what the employee told me in the customer service office, he was almost immediately contradicted by a female employee there who stated that it was a "bomb scare" to another passenger....A crowd of commuters gather at the closed station. SEPTA really dropped the ball here. They had NO signage or personal on hand. There were a few police officers inside of the station that were completely unhelpful in answering queries from stranded passengers. No announcements were made over the PA at Market East nor Suburban Station. Basically, we were left in the dark as to why the station was closed....I eventually got home with the help of a subway, light rail, and a 1.5 mile walk across town.
Just to underscore my comments above, I'm no security expert--there may have been a very good reason for closing down Market East. SEPTA themselves may have not even had a say in the matter, they might have just been told to close the station by police. What SEPTA could control is how they reacted to this crisis. They could have made announcements. They could have made signs. They could have put notices on the train status boards. And they could have drawn up some emergency action plan in advance, that provided alternate subway/rail/bus paths for passengers to take to their destination.
Did I mention I'm paying $116/month for this? You're doing a heck of a job, SEPTA.
Oh! Did we mention that Septa and Amtrak and PennDot will be at a transit summit in Ardmore this evening?
Here are the details:
Thursday, October 2, 2008
WHAT: Congressman Gerlach’s Main Line Transit Summit
WHEN: 7 P.M. to 9 P.M.WHERE: Lower Merion Township Building
75 East Lancaster Avenue
Ardmore PATENTATIVE AGENDA:
7 P.M. Sign-in period and chance to get materials from AMTRAK, SEPTA and PennDOT7:15 P.M. Welcome and opening remarks
7:25 P.M. Presentation by SEPTA
7:40 P.M. Presentation by AMTRAK
7:55 P.M. Presentation by PennDOT
8:10 P.M. Question-and-Answer Session
8:55 P.M. Closing remarks
