The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have urged the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to take immediate action to eliminate fire risks in its fleet of Silverliner IV railcars.

The NTSB claims that the outdated design of the Silverliner IV railcars, in combination with SEPTA's maintenance and operating practices, represents an "immediate" and "unacceptable" safety risk because of the incidence and severity of electrical fires that can spread to occupied compartments.

Additionally, NTSB claims that the risks posed by the design cannot be fully addressed without an extensive fleet retrofit or replacement. NTSB noted in a recent release that SEPTA's current operating practices have "failed to protect passengers and crews because defective railcars have been kept in passenger service."

Safety Board Recommends Suspension of Silverliner IV Trains

The recommendations stem from the NTSB's investigation of a February 6 fire in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania​, as well as four other Silverliner IV fires, including:

• Levittown, Pennsylvania, on June 3.

• Paoli, Pennsylvania, on July 22.

• Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, on September 23.

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 25.

NTSB investigators claim "the recurrence of fires shows organizational lapses that block effective risk mitigation." The NTSB states that ongoing monitoring is necessary to ensure SEPTA's proposed changes effectively protect passengers and crews.

According to a SEPTA release, following the February 2025 fire, SEPTA worked with the FRA and NTSB to develop a comprehensive set of 40 mitigation measures, which include progress on initiatives such as additional notifications and safety checks, as well as the implementation of audible alarms for fault lights.

In response to the FRA Emergency Order and NTSB report, SEPTA has added in-person inspectors on all Center City trains, along with mid-run checks of fault indicator lights. The agency also introduced live video monitoring, enabling control center supervisors to track these indicators remotely in real-time.

The NTSB's urgent recommendations call on SEPTA to:

• Suspend operation of the Silverliner IV fleet until the transit agency determines the root causes of fires, develops and implements a plan to address these causes, and identifies and corrects the organizational factors that have prevented effective risk mitigation.

• Implement a plan to monitor the success of its risk-mitigation approach to the Silverliner IV fleet, including provisions for immediately removing the fleet from service again if its mitigations fail to prevent fires.

• Create an expedited procurement or retrofit schedule and seek funding from appropriate sources as soon as possible to accelerate the replacement of the Silverliner IV fleet or its retrofit to include modern feedback systems and meet federal fire safety standards for new railcars.​

According to the SEPTA release, "SEPTA will continue with our mitigation efforts in cooperation with the FRA and NTSB to ensure that the Silverliner IV railcars are safe for our customers."

The full urgent safety recommendations report is available online at ntsb.gov.​​​