More bumps along tracks for SEPTA’s Silverliner trains

SEPTA is again having issues with its new Silverliner V cars after discovering a tiny, hairline crack in three of the cars during an inspection last week.

The cracks were discovered in two cars at the South Philadelphia plant of manufacturer Hyundai Rotem and a third car that had been delivered to SEPTA for testing. Fox29 first reported the problem, which SEPTA has confirmed. The agency insists that the defect was not found on the 37 cars currently in service.

“It’s an imperfection that we feel needs to be evaluated and repaired, but it’s not something that will affect the safety, structure or service ability of those cars,” SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams said.
Williams said SEPTA is not sure what caused the crack, which is on the outside of the car’s shell. She also said SEPTA is not concerned about other defects.

“No, because again, we just don’t do an inspection when they’re about to be delivered to us. We do an inspection all the way through the process,” she said.

The crack is just the latest issue for the new cars, which cost $274 million and were expected to replace older cars built in the 1960s. SEPTA originally expected to have most of the 120 cars in service this fall, but now expects the order to be complete by next summer.