Philadelphia's SEPTA is increasing Regional Rail service next month by adding 99 weekend trains and 24 weekday trains to the schedule.

New timetables for all lines will go into effect Sept. 8.

SEPTA Restoring Service

The service additions will restore 80% of pre-COVID service on weekdays (up from 77%) and 84% on weekends (up from 63%).

Regional Rail ridership recovery is currently at about 67% of pre-pandemic levels, with weekend ridership growth outpacing weekdays.

“As we continue to rebuild ridership, SEPTA is still facing a $240 million annual budget deficit, and the need for a permanent solution grows more urgent by the day,” said SEPTA CEO/GM Leslie S. Richards. “Despite this funding crisis, we cannot put critical investments in our system on hold. We must move forward with efforts to make our service more reliable for our riders who depend on us to get where they need to go.”

Keys to Expanding Service

Thanks to a robust recruitment and training effort, SEPTA will be able to add additional crews to address personnel shortages and provide more consistent service.

With 189 engineers, the authority is on track to meet its budgeted headcount of 213 by next spring.

The schedule changes support the goals and vision of SEPTA’s Reimagining Regional Rail initiative by adding additional service to accommodate off-peak, evening, and weekend trips.

Some highlights of the upcoming service changes, include:

• Full restoration of 30-minute weekend service to the Philadelphia International Airport.

• Full restoration of hourly weekend service on most lines.

• Additional off-peak (late-night and mid-day) and reverse peak service on most lines.

• Additional railcars on select trains to mitigate overcrowding, particularly mid-week when ridership is highest.

• Schedule adjustments to help improve on-time performance.