USA: Philadelphia operator SEPTA ran its first Silverliner V regional commuter train in passenger service on the Cynwyd Line on October 29.

The three-car electric multiple-unit departed Cynwyd station shortly after 09.00 on its inaugural run and called at Bala, Wynnefield and 30th Street before terminating at Philadelphia’s Suburban Station, where it broke through a ‘Welcome’ banner as it entered.

The three cars are the first of 120 vehicles ordered from Hyundai Rotem USA at a cost of US$274·1m. The manufacturer is shipping the bodyshells from its plant in South Korea to a new facility in South Philadelphia, where manufacturing and assembly work is completed.

According to the operator, the Silverliner Vs have ‘bright and spacious interiors, large windows and mid-car doorways’ and are fitted with digital display panels, passenger information screens and energy-efficient climate control equipment.

The new trains will increase network capacity and allow SEPTA to retire around 70 Silverliner II and III cars which have been in service since the mid-1960s.