SEPTA Strategic Business Plan for FY 2015-2019

I was a bit surprised to not see this discussed here yet, but SEPTA has released its strategic plan for the next five fiscal years taking into account the improved capital funding situation in the state:
http://www.septa.org/reports/2015-2019/ ... -plan.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Accompanying philly.com article: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140 ... _plan.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Among many other things, of interest particularly to this forum is that they intend more seriously begin the Silverliner IV replacement project.

A fair bit of detail is available as well as the ability to submit public comments online for the next month.

What is the footage seen at 0:08 under "renewal"? It sure looks like the Newtown branch to me. If so, how incredibly ironic.

Riders need to be vocal to politicians on how poor the SLV cars are and inappropriate for the railroad. The new cars offer no peace for riders who want a quiet and enjoyable ride.

That footage is Fox Chase north of Rhawn and the signals for Bethayres. Newtown is the poster child of why SEPTA should not be the owner of railroads and dictator of where funds are spent; also the local funding formula deters poor counties from prioritizing such projects.

How are the Silverliner v's inappropriate for the railroad and non-peaceful ?......when ever i ride them they are the total opposite.

The V's seem to have poor soundproofing as compared to the II's, III's, and IV's.

The lack of vestibule doors and the phone booth cab make them seem like a subway car......such an insult to traditional railroading!

Sarcasm aside, the door arrangement has been mandated by the FRA for safety reasons, as I understand it.
And the cab seems to be an artifact of management's penchant for pissing off it's employees.

Hacker wrote:Riders need to be vocal to politicians on how poor the SLV cars are and inappropriate for the railroad. The new cars offer no peace for riders who want a quiet and enjoyable ride.

I see this expressed constantly here, but most riders I know prefer the newer cars, and when compared to the SL II/III's they replaced, they're far more preferred from the regular (non-railfan) passenger perspective. The noise has never bothered me, but I'm usually on headphones anyway.

I'm so distracted by the webuyanycar.com ads on the monitors that I don't hear the extra noise.