Philadelphia has been able to boast many “firsts” in its history, including being the place where the United States was founded almost 250 years ago. Effective Aug. 24 and continuing on Sept. 2, the city will experience another “first”; one that will be catastrophic for the region and especially for transit riders who use the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to get around. Severe cuts to the agency’s bus system have already been implemented, and rail service on all modes will be reduced to less than half of its current level immediately after Labor Day.
The problem for SEPTA is lack of money, and the cause of that lack of money is political. The agency is facing a $213 million deficit, and elected officials in Harrisburg have been unable (and some appear unwilling) to come up with the money to keep transit in the Keystone State going at anywhere near current levels. It is not only Philadelphia that will soon be devastated; so will transit in Pittsburgh and other places. Gov. Josh Shapiro, who comes from a suburb in SEPTA’s service area, is supportive of efforts to fund transit, but Republicans control the state’s Senate, and keep pushing for transportation funding to go to highways instead. A recent proposal to divert funds for capital projects at SEPTA to keep operations going encountered opposition, so the drastic service reductions at SEPTA have begun.
On July 17, SEPTA reported “Record-High Customer Satisfaction” in a press release. Then things began to change. On Aug. 6, the agency sounded the alarm about its newly precarious funding situation, saying: “New state transit funding must be secured by Aug. 14 in order for SEPTA to avoid implementation of a 20% service cut to close a recurring budget deficit. Otherwise, SEPTA must advance efforts to ensure staff, equipment and materials for customers are ready for reduced schedules starting on Aug. 24.” The funding did not come through, so the cuts were implemented. SEPTA summarized the cuts this way: “SEPTA has released schedules reflecting the service cuts and is urging customers to review all of their travel options. Overall, there would be a 20% cut to all services, including the elimination of 32 bus routes and significant reductions in trips on rail modes, and an end to all special service including the Sports Express.” The agency’s statement continued: “The Aug. 24 service cuts would be the first of several steps SEPTA will take this year to fill a $213 million budget deficit, absent a legislative solution. Additional measures will quickly follow, including a 21.5% fare increase on Sept. 1 and a complete hiring freeze later in that month. A second wave of service cuts on Jan. 1 will include the elimination of five Regional Rail Lines, a 9 p.m. curfew on all rail services, and the elimination of 18 additional bus routes to achieve an overall 45% reduction in service. Those are steps needed to balance this year’s budget without new funding. Additional cuts would follow in subsequent years.” SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer was quoted as saying: “At that point, we will be left with no other choice but to begin dismantling the SEPTA system.” He added: “Tens of thousands of people or more will be left with no viable public transportation options.”
The bad news for now and 2026 can be found at https://wwww.septa.org/fundingcrisis/service-cuts/.
After Labor Day: Local Rail Service Cut 20%, Regional Rail Service Cut in Half
Service on all Metro lines (subway and other local rail modes), will be “reduced by up to 20%” (SEPTA’s phrase), except for the Norristown High-Speed Line (M), which will remain unchanged for the present. The lines losing service include the Market-Frankford (L) and Broad Street Subways (B1 and B2), including the Broad-Ridge Spur (B3), the Route 15 trolley (G, on Girard Avenue, which uses rebuilt PCC-II cars that date back to 1947), 101 Media (D1) and 102 Sharon Hill (D2) lines west of 69th Street Station, and Subway-Surface trolley routes 10 (T1), 34 (T2), 13 (T3), 11 (T4), and 36 (T5).
Effective at the start of next year, plans call for eliminating three rail lines completely: the Broad-Ridge Spur, and trolley Routes 10 and 15. There will be no rail service on the system after 9 p.m., although some bus routes will continue to run after that hour.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, regional rail service was reduced to hourly during the week and every two hours on weekends. It took years for those service levels to recover, but that recovery will soon be wiped out. New schedules call for service on every regional rail line to be reduced to hourly during peak-commuting hours on weekdays and every two hours at other times on weekdays and at all times on weekends. There are a few exceptions. The Airport Line will continue to operate hourly, although it had previously run every 30 minutes. There will be some half-hourly service during peak-commuting periods on the Lansdale/Doylestown, Manayunk/Norristown, Paoli/Thorndale, Media/Wawa, and Trenton lines. The Cynwyd Line, which runs very limited weekday service, will lose one-third of its trains, so service will become even more limited.
Service reductions planned for January 2026 will escalate from merely severe to catastrophic. There will be no service at all after 9 p.m., and not all places on the regional rail system have bus service that could substitute for lost rail service, even with the additional inconvenience. To make matters worse, five rail lines are slated to be eliminated entirely: the Paoli/Thorndale (the original “Main Line”), Trenton, Wilmington/Newark, Chestnut Hill West, and Cynwyd Lines. Those lines run, all or in part, on Amtrak-owned railroad. While drastic, those particular reductions appear to constitute a cost-cutting measure, because SEPTA pays Amtrak rent for the use of those tracks.
The Chestnut Hill West Line is short and the Cynwyd Line runs a limited schedule, so bus service and the Chestnut Hill East Line could still provide transportation. The other three lines are among the busiest in the system, and not all stations will have bus service that can substitute for the trains that have run for so many years but will all be discontinued.
The effects will spread beyond the mere loss of local trains on those lines, even though that loss will be disastrous for thousands of riders on those lines—especially non-motorists. With the end of SEPTA’s participation on the Paoli/Thorndale Line, Amtrak will lose the money that SEPTA now pays for trackage fees, so the continued viability of the Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg could be called into question. Additionally, SEPTA had created an operational balance between lines on the historic Pennsylvania Railroad system and the historic Reading system in the 1970s and early 80s by building the Center City Connector tunnel that linked the systems and allowed through-running that brought trains into Center City on one system and out on the other. Under the plan proposed for next year, the Wawa/Media and Airport Lines will be the only components of the old PRR system that will still operate, although trains on the historic Reading system will still run because Amtrak does not own any of it. What effect those cuts will have on service patterns remains to be seen.
Additionally, starting next month, fares for the vastly reduced remaining service are going up 20% or slightly more. The base fare will increase from $2.50 to $2.90 for a single ride, and multi-ride fares on all modes will rise proportionately. Philadelphians and visitors will pay significantly more for far less service than had been available at lower fares.
Where Do We Go From Here?
SEPTA’s website says: “This isn’t just about transit. It’s about our economy. Speak out.” Commentators, transit managers, and rider-advocates alike have raised that particular concern. If cuts of this magnitude are implemented and continue for the long-term, motorists will be inconvenienced and non-motorists will lose much of the mobility that they had until now. Even the COVID-19 service reductions were not this severe, because everybody anticipated that they would be temporary (even though it was a “long temporary” at SEPTA), and they were. Also, no lines were eliminated completely during the pandemic. Plans now call for five regional rail lines, two trolley lines, and one subway line to be discontinued entirely in January, if SEPTA does not get the money to keep it going. Looking at the Harrisburg scene today, the prognosis appears grim. Elected officials still have four months to prevent the severe harm that befall Philadelphia and its transit riders at the start of the year. That’s not impossible, but it appears unlikely from here. Even saving those lines and preventing the 9 p.m. curfew for non-motorists and for motorists who choose to take SEPTA might not be enough to reverse the severe cuts that are about to be implemented or have already gone into effect.
SEPTA is not alone. What happens in Harrisburg will also bring severe cuts to Pittsburgh’s transit, along with the many bus systems that operate in the state. As we reported extensively during summer 2024, transit in many other cities is facing similar catastrophic service reductions. They include Chicago; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; and many others. The COVID-19 relief money that the feds approved during the pandemic is running out, and revenue has not increased to fill the gap. The new lack of money is causing a new lack of service, and it is difficult to see a solution that will keep transit going at current levels in and near many cities. New York and New Jersey, as examples, have raised business fees to help keep transit going, but they will only last for a few years and must be renewed.
Philadelphia is now experiencing a new “first” in the severity of apparently permanent reductions in transit service; a “first” that does not generate civic pride, but fear for the city’s mobility and its future. While we can all hope that a catastrophe can be averted, it might be time to take some “farewell rides.”
9/2 Update
Per a ruling from Common Pleas Court on Aug. 29, SEPTA was ordered to halt any further additional service cuts and fare increases that were not already in place as of Friday, Aug. 29, the agency stated in a recent customer alert.
SEPTA says it will comply with the Court’s Order, which means that fares and service levels will stay as they were on Friday:
- Fares: The 21.5% fare increase that was scheduled to begin on Monday, Sept. 1, has been put on hold. All fares will remain at current prices until further notice.
- Regional Rail: The 20% service cut scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Sept. 2, has been put on hold. Service on Tuesday will follow were in effect last week, dated June 15.
- Buses and Metro: The 20% service cut that started on Aug. 24 will remain in place.
On Tuesday, September 2, SEPTA will begin supplementing bus service to schools under an agreement with the City of Philadelphia.
Due to this last-minute change to the agency’s service plan, real-time schedules on third-party apps may not be available right away, according to SEPTA. Customers can refer to the agency’s app and website for real-time schedule information, or the PDF schedules dated June 15.
SEPTA says will continue to provide updates with any new developments. The Philadelphia judge who issued the temporary injunction asked both sides to come back to the courtroom on Thursday, Sept. 4, according to am NBC10 Philadelphia report.
Further Reading:
- SEPTA Beginning 20% Service Cuts Aug. 24
- SEPTA Releases Reduced-Service Schedules
- SEPTA FY26 Budget Includes Service Cuts, Fare Hikes
- Second of a Series: Philadelphia Leads the Way
- 2025 Passenger Rail Outlook: ‘Murphy Was an Optimist!’
- Fifth of a Series: SEPTA Hopes for Good News
Join Railway Age and RT&S at Light Rail 2025, our annual conference on light rail transit, to be held Oct. 1-2 in Pittsburgh. Click here to learn more about this event, which has been specially developed for transportation professionals in planning, operations, civil engineering, signaling and vehicle engineering. Among the speakers: Andy Lukaszewicz, Deputy Chief Officer Rail Ops, PRT.
