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Home : News : News : Top Stories
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SEPTA strike a problem for Main Line commuters
By: Richard Ilgenfritz
11/03/2005
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Anne Morris of Ardmore said she normally doesn't take the train into the city. But on Tuesday morning, she decided to avoid the extra cars she suspected would be clogging Philadelphia's streets and parking areas due to the SEPTA strike, and take the regional rail from Wynnewood.

She attempted to find a parking space at the Wynnewood train station, but found the lot full of cars. Determined to still take the train, she drove across the street and parked in the Wynnewood Shopping Center.

After her return a few hours later, Morris discovered her car had been towed.

A $15 cab ride and $180 towing charge later, Morris was back in her car.

"It's a real hardship," Morris said after retrieving her car Tuesday afternoon.

Morris is one of countless area Main Line residents who have been forced this week to change their schedules due to the SEPTA strike.

At 12:01 a.m. Monday, thousands of Transit Union Workers walked off the job and onto the picket lines. As a result, subways, buses and trolleys throughout the Delaware Valley have been shut down, leaving both regular and casual commuters scrambling to find transportation options.

As a result of the strike, SEPTA officials are advising people to take one of the regional rail lines until the strike is over. On the Main Line, the two regional rail lines are the R-5 Paoli and the R-6 Cynwyd lines. The buses serving Ardmore and Gladwyne have been canceled.

Richard Maloney, spokesman for SEPTA, on Tuesday said the regional rail traffic has had a noticeable increase this week.

"We've had about a 20 percent increase [on the regional rails]," Maloney said.

The regional rails normally carry about 105,000 riders each day, Maloney added. He estimated that traffic on Monday increased to about 135,000.

Commuters have also noticed the extra train traffic.

Norman Lazarus of Ardmore said he's been taking the train into the city everyday for about a year.

On Monday he said he noticed a sharp increase in the number of riders on the train he takes to and from his Center City office.

"[On Monday] I waited for about an hour [to come home] from Suburban Station," Lazarus said as he waited for the train Tuesday morning in Ardmore. Most evenings, he said, a new train comes about every 15 minutes.

For more information about alterative routes, go to www.septa.org and look for travel advisories.



©Main Line Life 2009


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