The MARC train is headed to Philadelphia — but before you get too excited, it’s not for inter-city passenger rail service.

The Maryland Transit Administration is lending 10 MARC passenger cars to the Southern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, for a year to alleviate equipment issues that have hindered commuter rail service in the Philadelphia region.

SEPTA will pay the MTA about $2.7 million annually for the temporary lease and is responsible for any necessary maintenance that may arise while they have the rail cars.

The rail cars are not currently needed for daily MARC service, MTA spokesperson Courtney Mims wrote in an email, meaning there will be no impact to schedules for all three regional MARC lines.

“This effort reflects our shared commitment to building a stronger regional rail network that provides seamless access, connects communities and expands opportunities,” Mims wrote.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch wrote in an email that the authority expects to use the rail cars through most of 2026, and expressed gratitude to the MTA for the agreement.

“This has been an extremely difficult time for customers on SEPTA’s Regional Rail, and the MARC cars will allow us to add much-needed capacity for our riders,” Busch wrote.

SEPTA runs a sprawling commuter rail network with a dozen different endpoints that extend into Delaware and New Jersey. Residents all over the metro region rely on it to commute into Philadelphia every day.

But the transit authority has had to pull many of its own train cars out of service because of age-related equipment issues, prompting the MTA to show some brotherly love.

A string of fires on SEPTA’s Silverliner IV Regional Rail trains this year prompted the Federal Railroad Administration to issue an emergency order mandating intensified inspections on the entire Silverliner fleet. Delays and cancellations have stacked up since.

The 223 Silverliner trains, which make up about 60% of SEPTA’s commuter rail fleet, first went into service about 50 years ago. Seventy of the rail cars have returned to service as of Friday, Busch said, and the authority continues to work through repairs and installation of fire safety devices.

SEPTA was one of several transit networks around the country facing the possibility of steep service cuts this year amid rising costs. The SEPTA board voted in September to transfer nearly $400 million in its capital budget over to the operating side to stave off such service impacts.