SEPTA's Manayunk/Norristown trains back to normal

Service on SEPTA's Manayunk/Norristown line returned to normal Thursday afternoon after emergency repairs were completed on poles at three stations that were apparently damaged by high winds the day before.

Due to the work, riders at the Conshohocken, Spring Mill, and Miquon Stations had to board all trains from the outbound - toward Norristown - platforms, causing delays of up to 30 minutes.

Normal service was restored just after 2 p.m., said SEPTA spokesman Manuel Smith.

Meanwhile, passengers on the Chestnut Hill West line are experiencing delays of up to a half hour because of debris on the tracks, Smith said. However, those delays aren't weather-related.

High winds ripped through the region at midafternoon Wednesday, and a gust of 71 m.p.h. - just shy of hurricane force - was reported at Philadelphia International Airport.

In the City of Chester, about 8 miles from the airport measuring station, 1,500 customers lost power for a period, PECO spokesman Greg Smore said, and outages affected several thousand customers in Philadelphia and the four neighboring Pennsylvania counties.

Gusts of 60 m.p.h. were reported elsewhere with the passage of a line of storms that have turned April into March, at least temporarily.

A freeze watch is in effect for most of the region for Friday and Saturday mornings.