Suspicious Package Destroyed at Lansdale SEPTA Station

A bomb scare at the Main Street SEPTA station in Lansdale disrupted commuter train service on the SEPTA R5 line for about two hours Thursday evening.

Members of the Montgomery County bomb squad used explosives to destroy a "suspicious package" that authorities later described as a "discarded bag."

Montgomery County Sheriff Eileen Behr described the detonation as a "precautionary measure."

The object was initially spotted by a SEPTA conductor, who reported it to authorities at 5:49 p.m. Thursday, according to Sergeant Rich Bubnis of the Lansdale Police Department.

Bubnis said the bag was situated in "an odd place" next to a power transformer at the train station.

"To be on the safe side, the SEPTA police came in, as well as Montgomery County Bomb Squad. The area was shut down, they took some X-rays, and ended up disposing of the package," Bubnis said.

Behr said there was nothing in the X-rays that would indicate the presence of an explosive.

Asked why the bomb squad used explosives to destroy the bag, Behr said the bomb squad "does not want to explain" why it detonates some suspicious objects, but not others.

The detonation was conducted at about 7:45 p.m. and was heard more than a mile away from the scene. SEPTA service to the station was resumed less than 10 minutes after the bag was destroyed.

During the suspension in service, northbound passengers were being forced to disembark at Pennbrook Station, while southbound passengers had to get off their trains at Fortuna Station.

Behr commended SEPTA, Lansdale Police and the bomb squad for working together to protect public safety.

"I'm sure there were a lot of disgruntled people on the train, but it was for their safety," Behr said.

Patch correspondent Keith Heffintrayer contributed to this report.

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