Thu. Oct 31st, 2024

Gov. Phil Murphy speaking in Kearny on Oct. 30, 2024, as NJ Transit unveils new rail cars it plans to add to its fleet next year. (Courtesy of the governor’s office)

Gov. Phil Murphy and a bevy of transit officials unveiled the first in a set of new multi-level NJ Transit rail cars due to go into service over the coming years as aging equipment becomes an increasingly significant source of service disruptions for the transportation agency.

The first four of the 174 new rail cars New Jersey has ordered will be sent for testing in Colorado and are expected to come into service midway through 2025.

“These new multi-level cars we previewed today will not only provide a more comfortable ride for our customers but also significantly improve service reliability,” NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett said at a press conference in Kearny. “I know everyone remembers the challenges we faced with reliability on the rails back in May and June.”

Mechanical issues are a growing source of NJ Transit disruptions. Between June and August, mechanical problems stopped 462 canceled trains. Only weather and issues with Amtrak infrastructure stopped more trains during that three-month stretch, the agency’s second-worst summer under Murphy.

Inside one of the new rail cars NJ Transit plans to add to its fleet next year (Courtesy of NJ Transit)

The new rail cars will replace cars in NJ Transit’s aging and increasingly unreliable fleet of trains. Many rail cars presently in use by the agency are more than 40 years old and require frequent maintenance checks and repairs.

Officials said the new rail cars would drastically cut down on maintenance costs, requiring inspections every 400,000 miles compared to the 20,000-mile checks needed for much of the agency’s existing equipment.

Delivery of the new cars was delayed by pandemic and supply chain issues.

Message for poor NJ Transit riders: Fixes are coming … eventually

Corbett said 113 of the rail cars New Jersey has ordered are expected to come into service in 2026. Another 25 are expected to be deployed by the end of 2027, with the remaining cars expected to come online by the end of 2028.

“In the year 2029, the entire fleet will be new,” Murphy said.

The agency has the option to purchase an additional 100 new rail cars in 2025.

The new fleet represents a significant investment for NJ Transit. Between state and federal sources, the agency has put more than $950 million behind the purchase of modern rail cars.

Nearly $567 million from the Federal Transportation Administration represents a majority of those costs, said FTA regional administrator Mike Culotta, while New Jersey’s investment in the modern fleet comes to roughly $270 million.

The new train cars will feature USB charging ports, bike racks, and 11% more seating than existing multi-level cars, officials said. Some will be self-propelled, eliminating the need for a separate locomotive.

“Let me tell you, these rail cars will be a game-changer for commuters in New Jersey,” Culotta said.

The new rail cars will come online amid a host of other infrastructure investments from NJ Transit.

The agency has $8 billion in ongoing capital projects on top of $6 billion completed since 2018, Corbett said, adding the agency is nearing completion of its next five-year capital plan, which will call for an additional investment of $17 billion.

Those include the Portal North Bridge, a $2 billion project to replace a more-than-a-century-old two-track swing bridge that spans the Hackensack River that is expected to reach completion in 2027.

“With all the expenditures currently underway at New Jersey Transit, we’re told we now have the second-largest capital program in the nation, behind only New York’s MTA,” Corbett said. “For those who remember the ad ‘Number two tries harder,’ we are trying harder.”

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