The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is recommending that SEPTA suspend more than half of its Regional Rail fleet following multiple train fires throughout the Pennsylvania region this year. The five fires all included Silverliner IV railcars, the NTSB revealed in a report on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

The NTSB recommends that SEPTA suspend the operation of the entire Silverliner IV fleet until they determine the exact causes of the fires, develop and implement a plan to address those causes, and correct the “organizational factors that have prevented effective risk mitigations.”

Currently 225 of SEPTA’s 390 passenger-carrying railcars (including passenger coaches, cab cars and self-propelled units) are part of the Silverliner IV fleet. Officials said the fleet hasn’t been refurbished since its original deployment.

The Silverliner IV fleet – which began entering service between 1974 and 1976 – was operated by the Reading Company before it was absorbed into Conrail in 1976. SEPTA then took over commuter rail operations and the Silverliner IV fleet from Conrail in 1983.

NTSB officials said the Silverliner IV design predates federal fire safety standards established in 1999 and amended in 2002.

“Under Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 238.103, new railcars and refurbishments must meet the performance standards, design standards, and testing procedures described in Appendix B of the same part,” the NTSB wrote.

The NTSB also recommended seeking funding from “appropriate sources” as soon as possible to replace the fleet or include modern feedback systems to meet the regulations under the Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations.

Finally, the NTSB recommended that pending the replacement of the trains, SEPTA implement a plan to monitor the success of their “risk-mitigation” approach to the fleet, including provisions for immediately removing the trains from service again if their mitigation fails to prevent future fires.

SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said he was surprised by the NTSB report and disagreed with it. Sauer said SEPTA has already implemented about 40 mitigation measures since the first train fire, which occurred in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, back on Feb. 6, 2025. Sauer also said that despite the recommendations, the Silverliner IV railcars will remain on the tracks.

According to Sauer, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) wants the transit agency to follow its own mitigation practices. He also said the FRA agrees that SEPTA does not have to remove the Silverliner IV railcars from its fleet.

“Throughout this process we have tightened up all those procedures which is why the incidents have been less frequent,” Sauer said. “So, we are responding to every single mitigation measure that we either come up with on our own or that the FRA tells us to do. The FRA being the regulator, they can order us to change. When they do, we respond.”

Sauer also said that replacing the entire Silverliner IV fleet would require SEPTA to take out a loan, a process that could take up to six to 10 years.

Regional Rail: Regional Rail crews are currently taking part in safety reinforcement briefings regarding the FRA Emergency Order, potentially impacting crew availability during their shifts. Riders may experience delays, cancellations and/or crowded conditions.

— SEPTA (@SEPTA) October 2, 2025

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also issued a statement announcing the FRA issued an emergency order requiring that SEPTA take “immediate, sweeping action” following the fires. According to Duffy, the FRA is ordering SEPTA to follow “several safety-related steps” to prevent future fires.

“At my direction, FRA is taking swift and immediate action to ensure the safety of all passengers and transit workers on SEPTA. This includes deploying our team of experts to SEPTA’s trains, repair shops, dispatch center, to ensure thorough safety precautions are being implemented,” Duffy said. “Recent fires and ongoing mechanical problems are unacceptable to such a critical rail line. Under President Trump, we will always put the safety of the American people first. SEPTA must take action to correct these persistent dangers.”

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker also released a statement on the NTSB’s recommendations, which she described as “very disturbing” and “all too predictable.”

“When anyone questioned my concerns and apprehension last month about SEPTA using capital funds for operating costs, this moment is why,” Parker said. “I have been adamant that Philadelphia and our Southeast Pennsylvania region need to protect and strengthen our capital investments in SEPTA to ensure the safety, reliability, and future of our transit system for the 700,000 people who use SEPTA every day.”

The NTSB recommendations come as SEPTA continues to face a financial crisis after Pennsylvania lawmakers failed to reach a deal to secure funding for a $213 million budget deficit. SEPTA initially implemented major service cuts to their buses, subways and trolleys in August and planned to implement further cuts to Regional Rail service in September in order to deal with the crisis. After a lawsuit and judge’s order, however, SEPTA restored their service, tapping into their state capital assistance funding over the next two years.

SEPTA still implemented a 21.5% fare increase. George Bochetto, the Philadelphia-lawyer who filed the initial lawsuit that led to the judge’s order, recently said he plans to sue SEPTA again in order to get them to stop the fare hikes.

The five train fires

The first incident occurred on Feb. 6, 2025, shortly before 6 p.m. when a SEPTA train caught fire as it departed the Crum Lynne Station in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. The train consisted of six Silverliner IV railcars.

“About 2 hours before the fire, the operator reported to a dispatcher that the train was sluggish and that the fault light—an indicator similar to the check engine light in an automobile—was on,” the NTSB wrote. “A mechanical inspection by a maintenance team found that three railcars, including the one that would later catch fire, were not properly receiving power to the traction systems from the catenary, reducing the train’s total tractive power (power being output by the propulsion system) and causing slow acceleration, but at the direction of the dispatcher, the train remained in service.”

The NTSB said the train operator also reported a strong burning smell in the lead railcar around 5:07 p.m. that day. The train still remained in service until the operator noticed smoke behind the lead railcar while leaving the Crum Lynne Station and then saw that it was on fire.

The NTSB determined the fire started in the railcar’s undercarriage when electrical components of the train’s propulsion system overheated and ignited. The railcar was destroyed in the fire and four crewmembers as well as 325 passengers were evacuated. Four passengers suffered minor injuries.

The second incident occurred on June 3, 2025, in Levittown, New Jersey, around 7:10 a.m. A railcar of SEPTA train 7206 – which consisted of five Silverliner IV railcars in all — caught fire as the train stopped at the Levittown Station. All 150 passengers on board the train were evacuated and no injuries were reported.

The fire mostly occurred in the roof area of the railcar and a rooftop ventilation duct, according to the NTSB. Investigators later found signs of overheating on the damaged railcar’s dynamic brake resistor banks which are used to convert mechanical energy into heat when the brakes are applied.

“Preliminary findings indicate that a cam controller pilot motor (part of the system that controls the railcar’s dynamic brakes) failed and that the dynamic braking pressure switch (which engages or cuts out the dynamic brakes during air brake applications) was out of calibration,” the NTSB wrote. “Together, these two issues allowed this railcar’s braking system to become stuck in dynamic braking mode as the train remained in motion and under power, causing the resistor grid to overheat and ignite a fiberglass rooftop ventilation duct.”

The third incident occurred on July 22, 2025, shortly before 11 p.m. The fifth railcar of SEPTA train 3553 – which consisted of six Silverliner IV railcars in all – caught fire as it stopped at the Paoli Station in Paoli, Pennsylvania. All 14 passengers and the crewmembers were evacuated. The conductor was treated for smoke inhalation. No other injuries were reported. Investigators determined the fire started in the railcar’s undercarriage with electrical components in the train’s propulsion system and spread to the passenger compartment, similar to the incident that occurred on Feb. 6.

The fourth incident occurred on Sept. 23, 2025, around 4:45 p.m. Crewmembers discovered smoke coming from the roof of the fifth railcar of SEPTA train 3592 – which consisted of six Silverliner IV railcars in all – as it approached the Fort Washington Station in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. The four crewmembers and all 350 passengers on board were evacuated at the station. No injuries were reported. Officials said the incident involved the same railcar that caught fire during the Levittown incident.

“The NTSB examined the involved railcar from train 3592, and preliminary findings indicate that the fire began with electrical components near the dynamic brake resistor banks on the railcar’s roof,” the NTSB wrote. “The electrical components had been replaced during repairs and maintenance after the Levittown fire; preliminary findings indicate that the fire was associated with these repairs rather than the defects that led to the Levittown fire. As in the Levittown fire, the fire did not spread to occupied compartments.”

The fifth incident occurred on Sept. 25, 2025, around 7 a.m. The crew of SEPTA train 705 – which consisted of five Silverliner IV railcars – noticed the second car had caught fire while it stopped at the Gravers Station in Philadelphia. The four crewmembers and around 25 passengers were evacuated. No injuries were reported.

Investigators determined the train had been operating since the day before with an illuminated fault light and was operated by multiple crewmembers during that time period. The NTSB determined the fire started on a traction motor in the train’s undercarriage and a crewmember put out the flames with a handheld extinguisher.