In the afternoon of Wednesday, February 25th, PATCO had to suspend service between Broadway and Ferry Avenue Stations.  This is because PSE&G was working on a gas main at 10th and Newtown Avenue and accidentally ruptured it.  To avoid the potential of "arcing" from sparks from the third rail, they advised PATCO to shut down service.

Twenty-two shuttle buses were provided by New Jersey Transit.  However, these buses would prove to be no match for the PATCO rush hour crowds from Philadelphia.  Although this shutdown lasted from noon to rush hour, service was restored by the end of the day.

News story here: http://www.ridepatco.org/content.asp?page=News&param=2&publication=19&pubnumber=752

Railroad.net thread (with a picture of the chaos at Walter Rand Transportation Center): http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=59657

Around Noon today, a 16-year old kid committed suicide by jumping in front of a train.  This unfortunate incident occurred at Susquehanna station in North Philadelphia.  Trackage was shut down in both directions between Girard and Erie stations.  Buses provided shuttle service between these two stations.  Service was restored by the rush hour.

http://philadelphiatransitforums.cjb.net/topic/7083585/1/#new

photo right: taken by SEPTA_KID

SPAX 70, SEPTA's brand new NREX 7000 diesel engine, finally arrived at Wayne Electric Shops today.  It was transported as a part of CSX train C746 on the Stony Creek Line.  This engine will, of course, be used for the SEPTA MoW work trains and has no HEP for passenger cars.  For pictures of today's delivery of SPAX 70, please click on this link: http://www.trainweb.org/phillynrhs/RPOTD090305.html.

Discuss this brand new locomotive here: http://philadelphiatransitforums.cjb.net/topic/7083378/1/#new

Delware River Port Authority just released their RFP for bids on rebuilding the fleet of PATCO cars.  The bids are due by May 21, 2009.  There aren't many details in the RFP, as contractors will have to purchase the details, but one interesting thing to note is that the cars will have their lifespan extended by 25 years!

Here's a copy of the PATCO RFP: http://www.drpa.org/content.asp?page=Bids&param=2&pageID=21&ItemNumber=2991

New Jersey Transit is using the $82 million it obtained from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to accelerate projects in Southern New Jersey.  These projects include:

• A new transfer station in Pennsauken for the River LINE and Atlantic City Line ($40 million)
• Signal upgrades for the River LINE for more frequent service and Positive Train Control ($24 million)
• Replacement of rail ties on the Atlantic City Line ($12.7 million)
• New mini buses for Access Link paratransit service
• New bus shelters
• New Atlantic City Jitney vehicles
• Other vehicles for rural transportation programs and other transportation services for several counties

For more details, please view New Jersey Transit's press release on their website: http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=PressReleaseTo&PRESS_RELEASE_ID=2492

Greyhound's brand new Prevost X3-45s were spotted in the Philadelphia depot on Delaware Ave.  These buses are painted in the new "blue" scheme, which is a throwback to the scheme of the 1950s.  For pictures of the buses in the depot, click the following link: http://community-2.webtv.net/hey-paul2/NewPrevostsParkedat/

Starting tomorrow, March 17, TMA Bucks will start running it's CNG Bus, #G144, on the Bristol rushbus route.   This bus, a Coach and Equipment Phoenix on a Ford 350 chassis, was recently converted from gasoline to compressed natural gas.  What a way to "Go Green" on St. Patrick's Day!

E40LFR 800 Which is the prototype bus for the trackless trolley order is now in revenue service. The bus was originally delivered to SEPTA back in June 2007 for testing out Frankford but returned to New Flyer to be a control vehicle while 801-837 were constructed. 800 returned to SEPTA property after some modifications in late 2008 but was used to debug problems with the rest of the fleet. This unit was spotted in service for the first time on route 66 today.

Today PTV forum member Southern_8100 spotted 9017 with an Orange LED sign. Both front and door side has been retrofitted. "the side sign in the interior is no longer there" - Southern_8100. 9017 is most likely the test car for this sign. A year ago SEPTA placed a bid on these sign with Twinvision as the lowest bidder. The Subway surface trolleys are already getting interior communications devices installed to. Get your cameras ready!

Shortly after PTV forum member buswizard spotted 9017 on the 36.