SEPTA Faces Several Heat-Related Challenges
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - SEPTA hopes to cope with the heat although it faces several different challenges.
The main issue for the bus fleet is keeping the air conditioning going, says SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams. The heat, especially direct sunlight, can make things expand which is why there's a difference in the two city rail transit lines.
"The El and the Subway are not affected that much by the heat, definitely not the Broad Street Line. The Market Frankford Line, we do have portions of that that travel outside so we do have our track inspectors making sure everything is okay there."
The heat, especially in direct sunlight, can make metal expand so inspectors will keep an eye on the tracks of the El and other rail vehicles. Another issue is the overhead power lines.
"Sometimes if the trolleys or regional rail trains are moving too fast, they can actually put stress on the sagging overhead power lines and we don't want that to happen so if we can see that the heat has spiked and those wires are sagging we slow the trains down."
Williams says crews will be in place across the area for quicker response in case of trouble.
