Ask SEPTA: GM Knueppel talks Regional Rail schedules changes

SEPTA GM Jeffrey Knueppel asked to use this week’s Ask SEPTA column to address readers about changes to the Regional Rail.

SEPTA is embarking on a second round of schedule changes on Regional Rail starting this weekend.

The initial Regional Rail adjustments, made in December 2015, were designed to improve on-time performance and reliability system-wide on weekdays. These changes were put into place after SEPTA spent over a year pin-pointing the problems that were leading to unacceptable drops in on-time performance across the Regional Rail network.

We are seeing service improvements resulting from those changes. Now, our efforts for this upcoming schedule change, which starts Sunday, April 10, are focused on weekends.

For some Regional Rail branches, departure times have been adjusted with trains leaving stations earlier. The new schedules may also change service through Center City for some customers, which could impact some riders’ need to transfer for through-service.

To assist riders with adjusting to the new schedules, signage has been posted at stations along the impacted lines. We urge riders to view and download the new schedules ahead of this coming weekend’s changes at www.septa.org, and also look for the new timetables at customer locations.

Also, for riders who use the SEPTA iPhone and Android app, please remember to download the latest version of the Regional Rail schedules. To get the updates on the iPhone App, users should tap “Settings” and then “Update” to get the new schedules. The iPhone App updates will be available starting on April 10. Riders who use the SEPTA App for Android devices should visit the Google Play Store for updated schedules.

SEPTA will continue analyzing the impacts of these schedule changes to help guide us with possible adjustments moving forward. To help inform us, we encourage your feedback, which can be submitted online at the Customer Service section of our website. You can also reach our Customer Service representatives at (215) 580-7800.

Every three weeks SEPTA GM Jeffrey Knueppel answers Metro readers’ questions about public transit in “Ask SEPTA.”To submit a question, please email them to sam.newhouse@metro.us.