WILMINGTON — As SEPTA plans for deep cuts to its service to address a $213 million budget shortfall, Delaware may be without critical rail service that major cities have relied on to connect companies with workers based in Philadelphia or New Jersey.
SEPTA has proposed cutting half of its service by January 2026, including the Wilmington/Newark line, to address a massive structural budget deficit. That regional rail line is a major artery connecting Wilmington suburbs to the greater Philadelphia area, allowing hundreds of people from both markets to travel to work for a low fare of $10 or less.
After the cuts, that same trip to Wilmington and back will cost consumers who don’t have a car upwards of $100 roundtrip via Uber.
As of right now, SEPTA plans to reduce midday service to the Wilmington/Newark line in August from hourly to every two hours. The transit agency would also eliminate some peak and evening service, as well as one weekend trip. Other adjustments include a 21.5% hike on fairs, as well as the shuttering of 50 bus routes.
SEPTA officials claim that the end of federal COVID-19 relief funding and increase in daily costs when ridership dropped in 2020. While ridership has been recovering since then, SEPTA has also had to deal with inflation and fuel costs as well as other issues. The transit agency had frozen management pay and cut consultants saved $30 million, though it was not enough to bridge the gap.
The Delaware Transit Corporation pays SEPTA $3.7 million per year for this rail service.
“SEPTA would go from being the economic driver of this city and region to its limiter,” SEPTA Board Chair Kenneth Lawrence Jr. said in a press statement. “… Even if you don’t ride, deep service cuts would impact you – whether it is from increased congestion on area roadways, declining property values or less revenue for local businesses as SEPTA purchases significantly fewer supplies and materials.”
Wilmington SEPTA route is a ‘lifeline’
While the train may be better known as President Joe Biden’s main mode of transportation for years to Capitol Hill during his days in the U.S. Senate, the SEPTA regional line has also been used by hundreds of workers that come into Wilmington for work at the city’s banking or law firms.
An average of 2,900 commuters relies on the weekday SEPTA service on the Wilmington/Newark line, with 1,180 passengers using the Wilmington train station, according to the transit agency. However, Wilmington officials estimate that amount is slightly higher.
One of those daily commuters is Renata Kowalczyk, the CEO of the Wilmington Alliance, a nonprofit which focuses on holistic strategies for economic development in the city.
“This . . . presents a daily commuting challenge for many of us, like me, who rely solely on public transportation,” Kowalczyk told the Delaware Business Times. “. . .We are going in the wrong direction. We need more services, not less, and we should be developing plans for connecting Wilmington to the Philadelphia airport.”
The Wilmington station is also a short walk to both Chase Bank’s Wilmington headquarters and Barclays Bank’s Wilmington office as well as the CSC Station and the Delaware State University’s Riverfront building.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. had reportedly restarted in-office for employees in March, per chairman and CEO Jaime Dimon’s push to return to work for better collaboration. The company is the third largest employer in the state, with 11,300 employees in all. JPMorgan Chase representatives declined to comment for this story.
Barclays, however, has raised concerns, as the financial company has 1,000 employees, and “many depend on SEPTA for their daily commute,” according to Barclays representatives.
“Losing this service could pose a substantial inconvenience to them,” a spokesman told DBT in an email.
With offices in both Philadelphia and Wilmington’s business districts, WSFS officials indicated that it was likely to see some impact if SEPTA cuts do go through as proposed. One representative told DBT that SEPTA is an “essential lifeline for many” of its associates traveling to work.
Meanwhile, DSU is now in its third year with its first Wilmington brick-and-mortar building, after Capital One donated its building on 1 S. Orange St. in 2022. The university now offers graduate and adult programs for hundreds of students.
Carlos Holmes, a university spokesman, told DBT that while there have been no studies on how many students and employees use SEPTA to come to the Riverfront building, the proposed service elimination has the university concerned.
Wilmington Deputy Chief of Staff Daniel Walker said that the city officials estimate that about 1,500 daily SEPTA riders use the Riverfront station. Walker said the mayor’s office is “assessing the impact” this will have on those who ride the train.
‘We always looked to Philadelphia’
The Wilmington/Newark line also includes stops in the rising Claymont community and in Newark near the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus. Both stations had secured federal funding for renovations, with Newark’s stop expected to see the final stage of the project start in 2026.
The Newark train station broke ground in 2018 and opened a few years later, and state, local and UD officials have seen it as an overarching plan to grow the STAR Campus, which includes 30 companies and more than 1 million square feet of modern labs and classrooms. There are also plans in the works for the Buccini/Pollin Group to build a mixed-use building close by, offering apartments for students, teachers and locals.
While UD officials declined to comment for this story, UD President Dennis Assanis called the station “such an important component of our vision,” during a ceremony last year where the station was named after former U.S. Sen. Tom Carper.
SEPTA estimates that an average of 546 commuters use the weekday train to arrive or depart from Newark.
Looking north at the Pennsylvania-Delaware Line, the Claymont Transit Station would still serve as a hub for DART buses, but with the proposed cuts, it would significantly curtail efforts to grow the town. The $90 million transit station was first discussed in 2006 as a major part of the struggling town’s redevelopment plan – even before the Evraz steel mill closed for good.
Claymont Renaissance Development Corp. Executive Director Brett Saddler said when he first heard the news that SEPTA would cut service to Claymont, he was in disbelief. He estimates 1,200 people in Claymont use the train before COVID, although SEPTA officials estimate the average weekday train sees about 834 commuters.
The nonprofit he leads was formed to help shape the revitalization of the unincorporated community that has 17,000 people today.
“We always looked at Philadelphia, because Claymont was always hoping to attract the fraction of the metro Philadelphia area that would give us a shot of turning around,” Saddler said. “That train station was a big part of that vision, especially with Darley Green attracting young commuters.”
Darley Green is a landmark development that includes 869 residences in apartments and townhomes, which Saddler said has drawn many Philadelphia transplants to live. These renters and homebuyers are from the city center and in their late 20s — and could not afford to buy a home in the Philadelphia suburbs on their own.
That strategy in targeting Generation Z and Millennial professionals has paid off, as the average home listed on the market is $325,000 and Darley Green homes are valued at $345,000.
As a man that has worked for years to revive a town, he grew up in that is a few minutes’ drive to Pennsylvania, Saddler was upset that the Pennsylvania General Assembly had been unable to come to some agreement about continuing SEPTA service.
“The loss will be sincerely felt. I’m incredibly frustrated by the Pennsylvania General Assembly that they do not consider public transportation to be important to economic development,” Saddler said. “People’s livelihoods and communities depend on public transit.”
“I can only hope Governor Josh Shapiro and the legislators can resolve this so that no jobs are lost in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware,” he added.
SEPTA will host public hearings on its budget on May 19 and May 20, as well as capital budget hearings on May 21. For more information on the hearings and how to comment, visit septa.org/fundingcrisis
