SEPTA will be short 110 cars on its Market Frankford Line due to cracks in the support-beams of two rail cars meaning that commuters could face slower commutes Monday.
SEPTA officials said they discovered a crack in the body bolsters -- the main load carrying structural beam -- of two Market Frankford Line cars during inspections over the weekend.
As a result, SEPTA temporarily pulled some of its rail cars from service that have indications of a crack. All Market Frankford Line trains currently in service as well as those that will operate Monday were inspected, said SEPTA.
Another 58 trains have vent box cracks, which can spread to the bolster beam.
On Monday afternoon, SEPTA said that only 108 of its 218 rail cars will be running.
While Market Frankford Line service will continue between the 69th Street Transportation Center and Frankford Transportation Center, they will short of the 144 needed to run regular, weekday peak hour service.
Customers could experience delays and crowded conditions Monday along the Market-Frankford Line during peak hours, said SEPTA. [[412871393, C]]
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Officials said trains and platforms could be extremely crowded during the peak morning and night travel hours. As a result, they will supplement Market Frankford service with shuttle buses at select stations between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. during the week. [[412873043, C]]
CLICK HERE for more information on travel service this week.
The Market Frankford Line operates through 28 stations and over 12.8 miles between the Frankford Transportation Center in Philadelphia and the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby. The Line ranks number one among all SEPTA routes in daily average weekday ridership with 187,449.
Cracked rail cars are nothing new for SEPTA. The agency had to take about one-third of its Regional Rail fleet out of service because of a structural defect last summer.
