Here’s What Is and Isn’t Running on SEPTA

That jet-engine snow blower has been hard at work clearing tracks today, but its work isn’t done yet: there’s still half the Norristown High-Speed Line to clear. | Photo: SEPTA Media Relations

Here’s the gist of what SEPTA General Manager Jeff Knueppel had to say when he briefed the media at 7 p.m. about the system’s status for Sunday night and Monday morning: If you plan to use SEPTA to get home tonight, key bus and trolley routes are currently running, and both the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines will have overnight service with some minor adjustments.

Broad Street Nite Owl buses will run overnight, but the Market-Frankford Line will run trains instead. Personnel will be stationed at 15th Street/City Hall to facilitate the timed transfers between the two lines.

The West and Southwest Philadelphia trolley lines that operate overnight will run through the tunnel rather than follow the diversion route as they usually do overnight on Sundays.

Kneuppel said that 22 city bus routes and 12 routes in the suburbs have been returned to service, or about 30 to 35 percent of the total. Road conditions, parked cars and vehicles obstructing the travel lanes have put obstacles in the way of restoring service on some routes, including three of the “priority routes” the agency said it would work to get back to normal quickly once the storm ended. Knueppel said that SEPTA is working “closely and cooperatively” with the city and counties to clear streets so that buses can run. “It’s a very fluid situation out there with the buses,” he said.

The Media and Sharon Hill trolley lines are back in service except for the portion of the Media line that runs on State Street. Service on Route 101 will terminate at Providence Road until further notice.

That jet-engine snow blower seen above has managed to clear the heavy snow off the third rails of the Norristown High-Speed Line as far as Bryn Mawr, and service will operate between 69th Street Transportation Center and Bryn Mawr for the morning rush hour. Knueppel said crews will work to clear the line beyond Bryn Mawr on Monday.

Snowfalls of up to two feet and drifts as high as three feet have posed challenges for restoring Regional Rail service, Knueppel said, but crews have been working to clear the tracks. Knueppel said “it will be a slow start,” but that SEPTA expects service to operate Monday morning on all but three Regional Rail branches: Cynwyd, Chestnut Hill West and Trenton. Kneuppel went on to say that parking would be scarce at Regional Rail stations for the morning rush, as 30 to 35 percent of the spaces are currently buried in snow. Earth-moving equipment is shoving the snow to spots where there is no parking, and SEPTA will truck some of it to dumping sites elsewhere. Still, “parking will be tight” for Regional Rail riders nonetheless.

Customized Community Transport (CCT) paratransit services will only carry dialysis patients, medical appointments and essential work trips tomorrow.

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