Former SEPTA driver raises debate over fate of crashed trolley

It has been more than a year since a SEPTA trolley crashed into a house at the intersection of 42nd and Spruce streets, but the driver at the time of the accident, Natalie Munford, has recently stirred a debate over how the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority handled the aftermath of the accident.

Munford has accused SEPTA of not inspecting the damaged trolley properly or allowing the transportation union to inspect it after the crash. At the time, investigators said the trolley derailed due to an excess of speed.

The trolley jumped the tracks around 3 a.m. on Sept. 22 last year. The crash damaged the outside of the house and injured three of the five passengers onboard.

Munford said the trolley, which is back in service, is not in proper shape to be on the tracks, and said SEPTA officials "lied. It was a cover-up."

Yet, SEPTA spokeswoman Sylvana Hoyos said that the trolley has "been repaired, and it's back in service."

In terms of the damage done to the house, "SEPTA took care of all the building," Hoyos said. "There was no structural damage."

Owned by Campus Apartments, the house's exterior is currently in good shape. At the time of the accident, the students living there were forced to move to other apartments while repairs were made.

After the accident, Munford underwent testing to see if any illegal substances were in her system at the time of the crash. While the tests came back negative, she was still fired because her actions were "substandard," Munford said.

Munford maintains that she was not physically able to operate the trolley that morning because she was suffering from a broken leg that was not completely healed. "The [University] doctor contacted them and said that I needed to go back to hospital," Munford said. SEPTA "sent me to a quack. And he said there was nothing wrong. He said [I] could go back to work."

Munford maintains that derailments, though often not as severe, happen frequently.

"The wheels grind the rails down too far," Munford said. The driver actually has no control over that type of situation, and even if the trolley does derail, "it can be put back on with the supervisor and operator," she said, adding that she believes it is generally treated as a minor problem.

Hoyos, however, stressed that this was a singular incident that was dealt with appropriately.

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