Authorizing the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to hold hearings to investigate SEPTA Regional Rail's Silverliner IV fleet.

Authorizing the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to hold hearings to investigate SEPTA Regional Rail’s Silverliner IV fleet. WHEREAS, The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) is the Delaware Valley’s mass transit operator, running buses, subways, trolleys, and commuter rail lines since 1963 when it was created by the state legislature. SEPTA serves nearly four million residents in the five-county service area, as well as neighboring residents of Delaware and New Jersey, connecting to their regional transit systems; and WHEREAS, SEPTA has been facing a budget crisis since 2024, as ridership recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and costs continue to increase, with a $213 million fiscal cliff approaching that has lead the agency to increase fares by an average of 21.5%. SEPTA was forced to gain approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to use up to $394 million in capital assistance funds for daily operations for two years due to the state budget impasse; and WHEREAS, In October 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released an investigative report recommending its oldest train cars be discontinued from service. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) later issued Emergency Order No. 34 providing mitigation recommendations to SEPTA to take immediate action to address electrical fires on its Silverliner IVs; and WHEREAS, The 225 Silverliner IV railcars are SEPTA’s oldest railcars, in use since the mid-197…