SEPTA has its own historic day
Yesterday was a historic day for SEPTA.
And it wasn't pretty.
Suburban and Market East Stations were mobbed with parade-goers from noon until the evening, and frustrated riders waited hours in stairwells and on crowded platforms for trains to take them home.
SEPTA was so overwhelmed that it had to shut down all inbound regional trains, as well as the southbound Broad Street line, for five hours as it positioned cars for the crush of departures.
For many, the day was pure torture.
John Paine, 26, of Pottstown, left the parade around 1 p.m. and headed to Suburban Station to catch an R5 train to Paoli.
Three hours later, he was still waiting in a station stairwell.
"This is the first time I've used SEPTA, and the last time I use SEPTA," Paine said.
SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said the system had never handled this many people.
The agency had every bus, trolley, train and subway car operating at capacity all day, he said.
