Whereas the issues with SEPTA have frustrated and confused many a passenger in communities closer to Philadelphia, particularly on the Main Line, the story in Chester County has been quite different.

Commuters who board trains from western locales on the Paoli/Thorndale Line have been pleasantly surprised with SEPTA.

However, it seems they have only geography to thank.

“I’ve been very fortunate,” said Ernie Rotini, a West Chester resident who commutes from Exton Station to 30th Street Station for his job as an underwriter for Reliance Insurance Company. “When I first heard the news, I was hoping for the best, but definitely expecting the worst.”

Rotini’s rush-hour trains have been arriving and departing on schedule, give or take a few minutes.

“If you get on out here, you’re in good shape,” he said. “But if you get on closer to the city, the cars are packed, so they’re just bypassing those stops.”

Last week, SEPTA began running on an enhanced Saturday schedule. Over the Fourth of July weekend, officials announced that they were taking 120 Silverliner cars off line after the discovery of what they are calling structural defects in some of them.

The number of Silverliners represents about one-third of SEPTA’s fleet. On a normal workday, SEPTA cars take about 65,000 riders each way.

Last week, as packed cars blew past stations they were supposed to stop at, like Ardmore, expletives could be heard from those standing stranded at the platform.

“Actually, it’s been good for me,” said Anne Dabrow Woods, the Chief Nurse at Wolters Kluwer Health Medical Research, whose daughter Katie Dabrow was waiting to pick her up at Exton Station. “I went in at the regular time, and things went smoothly. Granted, coming back, I left work an hour early just to be safe. But it hasn’t been that bad at all.”

Chester Springs resident Sam Maha, a computer-software consultant, began working for a client in center city last week, which meant that his initial work trips into Philadelphia coincided with SEPTA’s problems.

“I couldn’t believe that there were going to be issues with SEPTA, right when I had to start traveling into the city,” said Maha, a 36-year-old who was born and raised in India and went to college in Sweden. “But I was lucky to be boarding at a station that was an Amtrak stop, so I took Amtrak in the morning and SEPTA in the afternoon.

“The SEPTA cars are full, but so far, so good.”

Just last week, Downingtown resident Scott White, 47, began working for a new employer in the city that he would not disclose, and he hasn’t been inconvenienced at all.

“I don’t know what you’re hearing from other people, but it really hasn’t been that bad,” said White.

James Applebaum, a graphic designer who works from home, was at Exton Station, picking up his son Ian and wife Rhonda.

“My son will be a freshman at Temple in the fall, so they went into the city for a school function,” said James. “I’m not thrilled that their train is a bit late, but I’m glad they’re coming in at all.

“I couldn’t imagine doing this every day.”

SEPTA officials have been asking riders to look for alternative routes, calling the situation “fluid.” A transportation agency spokesperson said they are looking at how users are adjusting to the changes so that SEPTA can continue to update schedules and service where and when appropriate.

“We’re looking at the patterns of how people are traveling – what stations were more crowded,” said SEPTA spokeswoman Heather Redfern.

Rotini, with fingers crossed, understands how quickly things can change.

“It’s only been a week,” he said. “Who knows what to expect going forward?”

An adventure, for sure.