SEPTA will receive the 10 leased rail coach cars from Maryland Area Regional Commuter Rail (MARC) on Friday, December 5.

SEPTA signed the one-year agreement with MARC last month to provide some relief to customers in the coming weeks.

The lease is being funded as part of the nearly $220 million in additional capital dollars allocated by Gov. Josh Shapiro on Nov. 24 to support urgent safety upgrades and infrastructure improvements.

“Thanks to the Governor’s continued support of SEPTA, we can enhance safety and reliability on Regional Rail,” said SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer. “We are also grateful for MARC’s partnership on this lease agreement. This has been an extremely difficult time for our Regional Rail riders, and the MARC cars will allow us to add much-needed capacity for our customers.”

SEPTA continues to make repairs to its Silverliner IV trains following the completion of federally mandated inspections of the entire fleet.

While Regional Rail reliability should gradually improve as more railcars are repaired and returned to service, riders continue to face service disruptions.

SEPTA will use the MARC cars to provide service where needed across its Regional Rail network.
The cars will make their way from Brunswick, Maryland to Union Station in Washington, D.C. before arriving at Amtrak’s William H. Gray III 30th Street Station.

SEPTA is also talking to transit agencies across North America about the possibility of similar arrangements.

-via Press Release