The US Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has approved an order for up to 94 additional new M8 rail cars for Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line.
The first new cars are expected to enter service in three years and supplement the 405 M8 cars already in use on the New Haven Line and New Canaan Branch.
MTA’s order comprises a base order of 60 cars and an option for another 34 cars, as well as the retrofit of ten existing M8 cars into café cars.
Featuring cameras and positive train control equipment, the new M8 cars have been designed to average 460,277 miles between mechanical breakdowns.
They will feature third rail shoes that can receive 700V to 750V of direct current to power the trains between Pelham and Grand Central Terminal.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said: “The approval of these additional railcars will improve service for commuters throughout the region on the nation’s busiest commuter rail line.
“Through actions like today’s, we are showing the public that investments in infrastructure must be made to continue the level of service the public, and our economy, have come to depend on.”
The existing cars are being retrofitted to include security cameras in engineers’ cabs and customer areas.
The M8 cars on the New Haven Line receive 65% of their funding from the State of Connecticut and 35% from the MTA Capital Program.
The cars will be manufactured in Lincoln, Nebraska, and tested in New York and Connecticut.
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