SEPTA Regional Rail Accident Lawyer: Platform, Boarding and Grade Crossing Injuries

Can you sue SEPTA after a Regional Rail injury?

Yes, if the injury fits one of the exceptions to SEPTA's sovereign immunity, and usually only if written notice is filed within 6 months (42 Pa.C.S. § 5522). Injuries caused by the operation of a train fall under the vehicle-liability exception, which expressly covers vehicles operated by rail, and injuries caused by a dangerous condition of SEPTA real estate, such as a platform or stairway, can fall under the real estate exception (42 Pa.C.S. § 8522(b)(1), (4)).

Damages against SEPTA are capped at $250,000 per plaintiff and $1,000,000 for everyone hurt in the same occurrence (42 Pa.C.S. § 8528). The general rules are explained on our main SEPTA accident lawyer page; this page covers what is different about trains and stations.

How Regional Rail passengers get hurt

Regional Rail injuries usually happen at the moment of boarding or leaving the train, or on the station itself, rather than in a collision.

• Platform gaps: a foot or leg slipping into the space between the platform edge and the train, often at a curved platform or when the car does not line up with the platform.
• Boarding and alighting: a train moving while a passenger is still stepping on or off, steps that are wet or poorly lit, or crew who do not wait for riders to clear the doors.
• Doors: doors closing on a passenger or a bag and the train starting to move.
• Sudden movement: a hard jolt or stop that throws a standing passenger into a seat or onto the floor.
• Station falls: icy or uneven platforms, broken stair treads, missing handrails and poor lighting at station stairs and ramps.
• Grade crossings: a car, cyclist or pedestrian struck where the tracks cross a road, sometimes involving gates or signals that did not work as they should.

Media/Wawa Line stations in Delaware County

The Media/Wawa Line is the Regional Rail line closest to our office. According to SEPTA, its stations in Delaware County are Fernwood-Yeadon, Lansdowne, Gladstone, Clifton-Aldan, Primos, Secane, Morton-Rutledge, Swarthmore, Wallingford, Moylan-Rose Valley, Media, Elwyn and Wawa, with Angora, 49th St and Penn Medicine stations inside Philadelphia. Regional Rail kept its line names when SEPTA introduced its Metro letters, so it is still called the Media/Wawa Line.

Many of these stations serve the towns we work in every day, including Lansdowne, Yeadon, Clifton Heights and Aldan. If you were hurt at one of them, we can look at the station, its stairs and platforms, and the lighting at the hour you fell.

Who is responsible can depend on who owns the property

SEPTA is treated as a Commonwealth party for immunity purposes (74 Pa.C.S. § 1711(c)(3)). But not every piece of track, station building or parking lot a Regional Rail rider uses is necessarily owned or maintained by SEPTA. A private property owner, a municipality or another railroad may be the right defendant for a fall in a particular spot, and each follows different rules and deadlines.

Grade crossing crashes can involve several parties at once: the train operator, whoever maintains the crossing equipment, and a driver who went around the gates. Identifying the owner and the maintainer is one of the first things we do, because it decides which notice rules and caps apply.

Your auto policy and a train injury

Pennsylvania's Vehicle Code defines a "vehicle" to exclude devices used exclusively upon rails or tracks (75 Pa.C.S. § 102). That means the auto insurance rules that help bus passengers, such as first-party medical benefits and the limited tort exception for riders in a vehicle other than a private passenger vehicle, may not apply the same way to a train passenger. If a car was involved, as in a grade crossing crash, your own auto policy may come into play. We review your coverage along with the claim against SEPTA so no source is overlooked.

What to do after a Regional Rail injury

Report the injury to the conductor or station staff and ask that it be written up. Get medical care the same day. Photograph the platform edge, the gap, the stairs or the crossing, and note the train number, car, time and direction. Keep your ticket, pass or SEPTA Key record, which helps show you were a passenger.

Then call a lawyer quickly. Station and train video is not kept indefinitely, and the 6-month notice period goes fast when you are recovering. The lawsuit itself is generally due within 2 years (42 Pa.C.S. § 5524).

Your Legal Warrior works on a 100% contingency fee: no attorney fee unless we recover, all case costs advanced by the firm and repaid only from a recovery, and nothing owed if there is no recovery. Call (267) 412-4601, answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or send the free case review form.