Regional Rail

A woman died after being hit by a SEPTA regional rail train near the Hatboro Station in Montgomery County about 8 Tuesday night. The woman's age and identity were not disclosed Tuesday night, however, officials said she may have been suicidal. Police in Hatboro were investigating the incident, but could not comment Tuesday night. Rail service on the Warminster regional rail line was suspended just after the accident, with trains beginning and terminating at the Willow Grove station.

Increased transit ridership and improved investments will allow SEPTA to put about $20 million back into a rainy-day fund that was depleted by the costs of bad weather and a bus drivers' strike in 2009. But SEPTA expects to tap the fund over the next two years for more than $100 million, because state subsidies are not expected to cover the agency's operating costs. Financial staffers told a SEPTA board committee Thursday that they would ask the full board to approve a $20.4 million transfer from this year's operating budget to the "service stabilization fund.

Triple-digit temperatures Thursday could mean a slower commute for regional-rail and trolley passengers, SEPTA officials said Wednesday night. Reducing speeds is a safety measure that the transit agency has to take when temperatures rise above 90 degrees, because overhead power lines typically droop in the heat and stiffen in cold weather, said Heather Redfern, a SEPTA spokeswoman. "You certainly have to be careful using the equipment in the extreme temperatures to make sure you're not going too fast for what the wires can handle," she said.

SEPTA's $1.23 billion operating budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is likely to be approved by the board next week, following review Thursday by a committee. The full board is to meet Thursday to consider the operating budget, which pays for SEPTA's day-to-day expenses, and the agency's proposed $311.5 million capital budget, which pays for such things as new vehicles and construction projects. The operating budget, which is about 3.9 percent higher than this year's $1.18 billion budget, envisions no fare increases or service cuts.

SEPTA unveiled plans for its new "smart card" fare system Friday to a public that was, by turns, enthusiastic, skeptical, and confused. Scores of riders, industry executives, and the merely curious showed up at SEPTA's Center City headquarters to watch a presentation on the new system and talk to SEPTA officials. SEPTA expects to award a contract this summer for the new electronic fare-payment system, but passengers won't be able to abandon their tokens, tickets, and passes for two to three years, when the system is expected to be installed.

At last, SEPTA is ready to shun "Show me the money!" cash fares, to bid "Hasta la vista, baby!" to tokens, tickets and transfers - and to get smart with contactless debit and credit cards. That means Philadelphia-area residents will finally be "Keeping Up with the Card-ashians" in Chicago, Boston, Washington, New York and Seattle (with its way-cool Orca card!). After years of fantasizing about a fare system that would make buying a train ride as easy as buying a cup of coffee in the train station, SEPTA is on the verge of putting its subways, buses, trolleys and Regional Rail on the kind of smart-card system most riders already use to purchase everything from stamps to SUVs.

A rail passengers' group on Thursday asked SEPTA to test a one-way fare-payment proposal before ordering its new "smart card" system, saying it might cause fare evasion and inconvenience to riders. Matthew Mitchell, of the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers, presented the SEPTA board with a resolution from the group calling for the test on two Regional Rail lines and urging the agency to conduct public hearings before buying any new electronic fare-payment system. SEPTA will borrow $175 million to pay for its long-awaited, long-delayed electronic fare system, and agency officials said last month they expect to hire a contractor to install the system by May or June.