SEPTA suspends Regional Rail, airport remains open

SEPTA suspended all Regional Rail service at 2 p.m. today and will not resume service until early Sunday morning.

"It's just too hard to continue to operate," said SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams. "This is just one of the worst storms we've ever had."

Williams said a combination of severe snow falling on the tracks and the inability to get enough personnel in to operate the vehicles led to the decision.

Service on all SEPTA buses, trolleys, CCT and the Norristown High Speed line has also been suspended.

Williams said the transit services will resume between 5 and 6 a.m. Sunday morning.

The Broad Street Line and the Market-Frankford El will continue to operate, she said.

Officials are pleading: unless it's an emergency, stay the heck home.

Philadelphia last night declared a snow emergency, meaning only official and necessary vehicles are allowed on the roads.

Governor Rendell declared a disaster emergency for the entire state this morning and made the National Guard available to assist state police in patrols and incident response.

In Somerset County, in the southwestern part of the state, about 1,200 motorists were stranded overnight on the Pennsylvania Turnpike after two 18-wheelers jackknifed, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

The incident started at 9:30 p.m. Friday and by daybreak emergency workers used snowmobiles to deliver gas, water and other supplies to those stuck in the accumulating snow.

Astonishingly, Philadelphia International Airport remained open.

Even so, said spokeswoman Victoria Lupica, no airlines were lining up to use the runways.

"Most of the airlines including U.S. Airways have ceased operations," Lupica said. "We're expecting 100 percent flight cancellations through tonight with operations resuming sometime tomorrow."

About 400 staffers and 200 pieces of snow-removal equipment had been working nonstop since Friday evening. "Our snow removal operations are continuous," she said.

Because so few planes came into Philadelphia on Friday, few passengers were stranded there.

"That's a credit to the airlines. Most of them managed their schedules and communicated to their customers," Lupica said.

As for travelers that did have to spend the night in the terminal, hospitality crews handed out pillows, blankets, water and food.

Lupica stressed that passengers today should contact their airline before coming to the airport expecting to board a flight.

They also can consult the airport's toll-free information line, 1-800-PHL-GATE, or its Web site, www.phl.org for specific flight information.

Amtrak's 30th Street Station was open, but many trains were canceled.

According to an updated schedule for today, several Keystone trains were running from Philadelphia to New York, but Acela Express and Northeast Regional trains were not.

By mid-morning, NJ Transit had suspended service on its 300, 400, 500 and 600 bus lines in South Jersey, as well as the 319 line from Atlantic City to New York City. The Camden-Trenton light-rail line was running with up to 15 minute delays, said spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett.

NJ Transit is "cross-honoring" passes and tickets from buses to rail to help passengers get where they need to go,

Delaware River Port Authority's PATCO line is running on a reduced snow schedule with trains every 20 minutes.