El Is a Mess

Our commute was thrown into chaos this morning when at the 8th and Market El stop we were greeted by the sight of an empty car with lights off sitting on the tracks and one poor woman yelling out that there were shuttle buses upstairs. As is often the case with emergency SEPTA shuttle buses, by the time they actually made it there they were packed to the gills, and hissy fits started to spontaneously break out all around, on the bus and in the queue. We decided to take our chances with the trolleys (since no one could tell us what, exactly, the problem was, what the hell); when we got to 13th there was an El train on the eastbound side that had been rerouted to go west, which we gratefully collapsed onto—this adventure of course had to take place on our first day back to work after three out with the flu.

What we managed to glean from the nice man at 13th and some disgruntled passengers screaming in the corridors is that there was a problem up at Spring Garden... which somehow caused a train to get abandoned at 8th? Who knows. In any event, things seem to be okay from 15th out, if slightly delayed and crowded. We just got word that they're letting people onto the platform at 8th again, but no trains have been sighted for 15 minutes. Lest you try to check SEPTA's website for a travel advisory, be assured this hasn't hit their radar of things that maybe people would care about. Fuckers.