Septa Considering Double-Decker Regional Rail Cars
By Brad Segall
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With more people using Septa's Regional Rail lines, the transit agency is looking for ways to increase capacity.
One possibility: bi-level train cars.
Septa says ridership on the Regional Rails has increased fifty percent over the last fifteen years, and there are indications it will only continue going up.
Now, Septa is looking for ways to move more passengers at a time, and they are considering double-decker train cars.
The first step in that process, according to deputy general manager Jeff Kneuppel, is doing a clearance study to make sure they fit under highway overpasses and in tunnels.
"It is what other transit agencies have done in the past and are moving more toward, so it really is an elegant solution that can bring you more capacity in an efficient manner," he says of the bi-level train cars.
He says one alternative -- adding more cars to make longer trains -- would require building longer platforms and could create traffic jams.
The bi-level coaches would be similar to what New Jersey Transit is using. Septa says it could be in the market for about three dozen of those cars.