POLICE IN NEED OF DRIVER RE-TRAINING?

For the second time in as many months, a SEPTA "Transit Police" officer was involved in an auto accident. Early Thursday morning, Unit K-5 (a K-9 unit) was involved in what appeared to be a minor traffic accident at 42 St/Baltimore Av in University City. It's probably fortunate that the damage was relatively minor, because it would've been the 2nd patrol car taken out of service that night. "Car 2" - which is assigned to the sector covering the El between 15 St and 46 St - broke down during the middle of its overnight shift. Last month, a "Transit Police" car was severely damaged in an MVA in Center City.

BUSY DAY ON THE SYSTEM

It was a chaotic and hectic day across the system yesterday - a trolley derailment, a robbery, a foot chase, and a suspicious package made for a lot of work for SEPTA's "Transit Police".

* Shortly before 08:00, a westbound trolley derailed in the tunnel just east of 33 St Station, resulting in the evacuation of at least 5 trolleys. Suffice to say that the morning commute on the Subway-Surface lines was a mess.
* At the tail end of the PM Peak, a robbery was reported at the Margaret-Orthodox El Station. The incident occured at around 17:55, when a heavy set, light complected black male reportedly robbed his victim near the cashier's booth; it's unknown whether the victim was an employee or a passenger. Several police units responded to Tioga Station to search for the actor, but were unable to locate him (surprise, surprise). The actor fled with approximately $100.
* At around 20:00, Philadelphia PD officers were involved in a foot pursuit of a subject under unknown circumstances in the area of Broad and Lehigh. The actor fled onto the system at the North Philadelphia subway station and was reportedly apprehended at Susquehanna-Dauphin.
* At around 22:30, a report of a suspicious package at the North Terminal at 69 St came in to police. The situation was cleared a short time later, however details are very sketchy.
* At around 02:50 this morning, a SEPTA "Transit Police" car was involved in an accident at 11-Market. One officer was transported to Jefferson Hospital with non life threatening injuries (this was initially reported as a bus accident; we apologize for the incorrect report).

But, other than that, it was a safe and secure day on the SEPTA system...

BRIDGE 1, BUS 0

Around 20:00 last night, 4516, working the 92 on 6029 block, was diverted off of High Street in West Chester due to the borough's annual Halloween parade (which needs to be moved to a weekend; a lot of residents north and south of downtown have complained for years about gridlock in the neighborhoods with workers going home and parade participants arriving at the same time). Unfortunately, the bus made the wrong turn on the diversion and went east on Barnard St where it struck a low bridge (clearance of 9' 6"). The HVAC unit and part of the top of the bus was sheared off and a lot of fluids on the roadway (requiring a fire department response), but other than that, there was very little damage.

PASSENGER STRUCK BY TROLLEY

A 51 year old male was struck in the head by a mirror of a trolley at 69 St Terminal. The incident occured at around 08:20 this morning as the AM peak was winding down. The victim was transported to HUP; there is no word on his condition. This comes on the heels of a pedestrian v. bus accident in University City on Tuesday. The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that the victim (about whom nothing was known about as of press-time Wednesday AM) was crossing Walnut St when a westbound 30 turning off of 40 St onto Walnut struck the victim.

TRESPASSER STRUCK BY AMTRAK TRAIN

A tresspasser was struck and killed along the NEC near Folcroft, Delaware County earlier today. At approximately 14:25, the victim was struck by a southbound Amtrak train in the area of the 1800 block of Baltimore Av near the Folcroft station; the train involved was either Acela Express 2159 or Acela Regional 171, both of which were scheduled to have left 30 St Station a few minutes prior to the incident (14:12 and 14:13, respectively). Folcroft PD requested DelCo Station 01 (Folcroft Fire Co) to assist in the removal of the victim. Service had been shut down for most of the mid-afternoon as police investigated.

CAR v. TROLLEY IN U.D.

SEPTA "Transit Police" are on the scene of a car v. trolley accident at Bywood Station on the 101/102 main line in Upper Darby; 1 patient has been extricated from the struck car and is being treated by Delco Medics 101 and 108. There are no reports of injuries to any passengers on the trolleys, as the incident occured within the past 20 minutes. As expected, service is being disrupted while the investigation is under way. Shuttle buses should be operating soon (if they're not already) between 69 St and Shadeland Av/Drexel Hill Jct.

FATAL AT DEL VAL STATION

An R5 Doylestown train struck and killed a man near the Delaware Valley College station in Central Bucks. The incident occured at around 12:25, as the #535 (12:22 Doylestown to Malvern) pulled into Del Val; according to reports, the victim was struck by the southbound train and pronounced DOA. More details should be available tomorrow.

EL TRAIN GOES OFF TRACK...

On September 22, at around 21:30, a westbound El train derailed at the 15 St Station. The #3 car of the train (1176) reportedly jumped the tracks at the 15 St crossover west of the station. Four people were injured, and service was restored the following morning. The cause of the incident is unclear, but there remains a slow-order leaving 15 St station. According to one poster at the railroad.net forum, the 1176 car had some wheelwork done earlier in the day. Funny how the rest of the media missed that one...