PHILADELPHIA — An out-of-service Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trolley derailed, struck a vehicle, and crashed into a historic building dating to 1766 on Thursday night. Three people were injured, although Delia King, the woman who lives in the former Blue Bell Inn at the corner of Island and Woodland avenues was unhurt.
“A SEPTA trolley just went through my living room,” King told WCAU-TV.
A security camera caught the image as the trolley struck the building about 10:45 p.m. A mechanic aboard the trolley suffered non-life-threatening injuries and two people in an SUV struck by the light rail vehicle were also injured.
"A SEPTA trolley just went through my living room." Video shows the moment an out-of-control trolley smashed into a historic Philly building. This is the latest SEPTA crash in recent days. https://t.co/eJVbFfZyOE @RandyGyllenhaal pic.twitter.com/CJHCoV9veV
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) July 28, 2023
The trolley had just left the SEPTA Elmwood carbarn, about a half-mile away. It was the fifth crash in a week involving a SEPTA bus or trolley.
“The recent rash of incidents is troubling to us,” SEPTA Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer said. “We want to make sure that everyone understand the system is safe.” SEPTA’s Chief Safety Officer, Ron Keele, said the agency would perform a safety stand down, reviewing safety and operating rules with its employees.
Incidents like these surely shake the public’s confidence in SEPTA. Some think that the company is short staffed and it needs to hire more people.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
SEPTA IS short-staffed. Today, a Sunday, has the following announcement for over 20 routes: “Due to operator unavailability, service is operating with delays.”
SEPTA is currently hiring Bus Operators, Vehicle & Equipment Mechanics and 45 other jobs.
Yes, SEPTA 9107 is a single-end city car from the group 9000-9111.
Post-accident analysis will show how the car started moving. Right now, everything is speculation, including “40-50 MPH.”
It looks like a single-end Kawasaki-built trolley and officials still say they don’t know how the aged vehicle started moving.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Currently, SEPTA is ordering new 130 low floor streetcars that will be built and delivered by ALSTOM. These trolley cars are scheduled to enter service between 2027-2030. These cars will operate on the Subway-Surface trolleys, as well as Route 15 and the suburban trolleys and replace the 40-year-old durable and reliable (?) vehicles.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
“About 40-50 mph. You would think that this was a scene straight out of Will Smith’s movie,” one person who witnessed the SEPTA trolley crash said.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
“It was the fifth crash in a week involving a SEPTA bus or trolley.” There are some things seriously wrong with the SEPTA system!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
First it was the freight railroads with an occasional Amtrak train thrown in. Now we are seeing this epidemic of derailments and collisions seeping into the transit industry whether it is a subway train. a trolley car or LRV or a commuter railroad. Whether all these derailments are the result of poor management, bad operations, poorly trained or inept train crew personel both operating and dispatching, the rail and transit industry better wake up and really address what the causes are and work to nip this epidemic in the bud. If it means a total reorganization of operations, management and equipment it must be done and this also includes the staff and personel who operate and manage thesecrail systems. It was always said and was a proven fact that rail transport whether it was freight passenger or commuter was the safest and most efficient form of transportation to move goods, merchandise and people over distances large and small. It certainly doesn’t look like that way now. Only the automobile and highway remains on top as the most dangerous form of travel and leading cause of accidents and deaths. But the current trend , if this keeps up will soon be putting rail and transit near or on top as just as dangerous or unsafe to travel on. To the railroad and transit industry Wake up and get your act together and get to work to put a stop to these very avoidable and preventable derailments and collisions and accidents. Your record as one the safest forms of transportation is already tarnished and is now viewed in a very negative light by many people. Clean up your act and get back on track {pun intended}
Joseph C. Markfelder
No doubt ‘Mayor Pete’ will be on top of this evolving safety crisis at SEPTA soon …..
9107 is a Kawasaki Car delivered March 19, 1982 and the class weighs 58,650 pounds.
Video shows the trolley was rolling backwards, struck a vehicle, then a tavern dating to 1766. Reports are that a mechanic was aboard, but not at the controls. Some SEPTA shop personnel are qualified to operate the vehicles on the street, but I don’t know if the one aboard the car was so qualified. In any event, the employee was not at the controls.
Museum types reading this: always chock the wheels.
Hearing that it was an “out of service” car with a SEPTA(?) mechanic on board. Was it southbound climbing the Island Road grade to get to the Elmwood Car House? Or a runaway from a car house repositioning?
If lost control, no power, are all brakes out? Track brake? Emergency brake?
Watching the video it really looks like this trolley was out of control. The track it is on is the track usually going up Island Rd. From Woodland Ave to the layover holding area for all the trolleys serving the subway surface lines. Also if you look at the picture it was going backwards since the front of the trolley is facing the camera. Either the trolley lost power and all controls going up Island Road to the layover area or for some reason the operator was running in reverse on this track and at a much faster speed to make the switch to Woodland Ave. that it must do at this intersection. In any case there was something seriously wrong in operation of this trolley.
Five crashes in a week? No, it is not safe.
SEPTA is having its troubles, I see. It’ a BIG system so take that into account while the Mainstream Media does its squealing about The Dangers of SEPTA with five crashes in a week! Excessive speed coming into an intersection? Runaway trolley? How much damage to car 9107 and builder & date info would be useful. Keep us posted about The Important Things, TRAINS!
I’m sure the good Doctor will provide that information. And more.