Aging infrastructure disrupts SEPTA’s Norristown line

SEPTA Regional Rail service was disrupted on the Manayunk/Norristown line Thursday by a downed power line, forcing one-track operations and extensive delays for most of the day. SEPTA officials said they hoped to resume normal service in time for Friday's morning rush hour.

The power failure was symptomatic of wider issues with SEPTA's antiquated electrical power system, SEPTA officials said. The agency is lobbying state lawmakers for more money to rebuild its aging infrastructure, including power lines and electrical substations.

A moving train snagged and pulled down about half a mile of overhead catenary wire on the Manayunk/Norristown line about 7:30 a.m., a spokesman said. Partial service was restored on a single track shortly after noon.

Another power line problem halted service on the Chestnut Hill West and Trenton lines for nearly two hours Thursday.

Much of SEPTA's overhead power system dates from its original installation in the 1930s and is ripe for failure, chief engineer Jeffrey Knueppel said. He said crews, working during the night and during off-peak daytime hours, struggle to stay ahead of the problems without halting service.

The overhead wires on the Norristown line were installed in 1933, and the catenary "just doesn't perform the way it did a long time ago," Knueppel said. He said wires fray and vertical supports crack after decades of continual use.

About 90 miles of the 250 miles of power lines have been replaced since 2000, and an additional 50 miles are relatively sound. "The last 100 miles are rough," Kneuppel said.

Current plans call for most of those wires to be replaced over the next five years.

SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey and chief lobbyist Fran Kelly were in Harrisburg on Monday and Tuesday, pleading the case for more money for infrastructure repairs, and Kelly said the wire failures Thursday are "a small example of what we're facing."

"This will become more commonplace" unless replacement is accelerated, said Kelly, SEPTA's assistant general manager of government and public affairs. And he said wire failures were small incoveniences compared to the disruptions commuters would face if an aging electrical substation failed.

SEPTA has 19 power substations to supply electricity to its rail lines, and 15 were built in 1931 or earlier. One of the most critical is the 1931-vintage Wayne Junction substation, which supplies power to trains on six SEPTA rail lines and will cost $50 million to $75 million to replace, according to SEPTA.

SEPTA faces a tough political climate in Harrisburg as it seeks additional funding, as Gov. Corbett and many lawmakers have warned that budget cuts will be necessary to balance the state's books.