PHILADELPHIA (AP) | Commuters biked, walked, juggled carpool schedules and hitched rides as the city’s transit system ground to a near halt for a second day Wednesday, a rush worsened when a regional rail train caught fire.
Regional rail lines are running because their workers are represented by a different union. But trouble hit about 7 a.m. when a car caught fire as it headed downtown, causing delays and confusion. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) officials said it was likely an electrical fire and was not suspicious.
More than 5,000 members of SEPTA’s largest union walked off the job early Tuesday, leaving thousands of people struggling for ways to get around without the use of subways, trolleys or buses.
“I can’t take the whole strike off,” said Niki LaGrone, 27, a Catholic school teacher in North Philadelphia, as she prepared to take regional rail as far as it goes and then walk a mile and a half to school. “I’m going to have to show up. … Hopefully, I can find somebody when I get in to work to help me out.”
The Philadelphia school district reported a 16 percent drop in high school attendance Wednesday. On an average weekday, about 54,000 public and parochial students take SEPTA to school.
Karen Pollack scrambled to find ways to get her 16- and 13-year-old daughters to and from their respective schools. She lives in the city’s Germantown section and left about 15 minutes earlier to drop off her younger daughter at school. Her husband dropped off their older daughter at a school about five miles from home.
Getting them home could be a challenge, though, because her older daughter usually takes SEPTA. Now, she’s going to walk the 15 or so blocks to her sister’s school and hopefully find a spot in that carpool, if there’s room.
“It was a little stressful last night,” Mrs. Pollack said. “It’s going to be day to day.”
Jim Jordan, an assistant general manager for SEPTA, said the regional rail car that caught fire was about 40 years old, one of many slated to be replaced soon. The origin of the blaze was probably in the heating or electrical system, he said, and the entire fleet will be inspected after the cause is determined.
No injuries were reported Wednesday, but hundreds of riders had to be evacuated.
The sudden strike by Transport Workers Union Local 234 has all but crippled the system, which averages more than 928,000 trips each weekday. The union walked away from negotiations on a new contract over disagreements on wage, pension and health care issues.
Union workers, who earn an average of $52,000 a year, are seeking a 9 percent wage hike over four years, said Jamie Horwitz, a union spokesman; they also want to keep the current 1 percent contribution they make toward the cost of health care coverage. Their contract expired in March.
SEPTA was offering an 11.5 percent wage increase over five years, with a $1,250 signing bonus in the first year, and increases in workers’ pensions.
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