Police investigate stabbing and sexual assault on 2 different SEPTA trains

UNIVERSITY CITY - Police in Philadelphia are investigating a sexual assault and a stabbing just hours apart on two different SEPTA trains.

Sunday, about 4:30 in the afternoon, SEPTA confirms a passenger was stabbed at the 34th Street subway station, in University City, prompting the Market-Frankford line to bypass the stop on Drexel University’s campus, alarming students.

Police raced the victim to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Officials say the victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

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The 34th Street Station was shutdown as police investigated the incident. Service returned to normal about 5:30.

Meanwhile, police confirm a woman told Philadelphia SVU she was assaulted on a SEPTA train on the Broad Street Line, between the Erie and Girard Stations, Sunday afternoon. Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit is investigating.

It’s one in a string of violent incidents on SEPTA recently, including another person stabbed inside Suburban Station at 15th and Market Saturday and a man pushed onto the train tracks at 30th Street Station last week.

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SEPTA says it will be talking about ongoing safety and security issues when transit leaders testify regarding their annual budget in May.

Safety while riding SEPTA has been called into question dating back almost a year, due to an increase in violent crimes allegedly taking place while trains are operating. Philadelphia Councilmember David Oh went so far as to introduce a resolution calling for city council’s committees on transportation, public utilities, and public safety to hold joint hearings regarding safety in SEPTA facilities and aboard SEPTA vehicles last October, after, police say, a woman was raped while on a crowded SEPTA train.