NJTransit to borrow from MARC

[GojiMet86]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ercrowding" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NJ Transit to Add Train Cars in Bid to Ease Chronic Overcrowding
By Elise Young
February 15, 2018, 11:06 AM EST



New Jersey Transit is adding 40 train cars to relieve chronic crowding at the nation’s second-biggest commuter railroad.

The agency, with a fleet of more than 1,200 trains, had been operating short 37 cars needed to provide basic daily service, resulting in standing-room-only commutes and delays.

Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat who took office on Jan. 16, said the agency is pulling half the 40 cars from its rail yards, where they had been undergoing tests of emergency-braking software. The rest will come from the Maryland Transit Administration in a lease agreement, he told reporters Thursday at the Trenton rail station.

“This is not a quick turnaround project,” Murphy said. “New Jersey Transit’s woes stem from years of internal management issues and years of state neglect.”

Murphy’s predecessor, Republican Chris Christie, cut NJ Transit’s annual bus and rail budget by as much as 90 percent during his eight years and transferred $3.44 billion from the capital account to cover day-to-day expenses. Even as fares increased by more than a third, reliability plummeted and passenger crowding increased. Once a national model, the railroad recorded the most accidents and highest federal fines among its peers, federal data show.

Facing a December 2018 deadline to install the federally mandated braking system known as positive train control, NJ Transit has suspended installations because of software troubles. Train cars that had been sidelined for those installations now will return to service with the software disabled, said Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, New Jersey’s acting transportation commissioner.

[blockline4180]

Surprised nobody else replied to this...

The preliminary agreement is for leasing 20 MARC cars, although we don't know if it will be ML's or single level cars... My guess is the older single level ones...
Also NJT is giving them a PL42.

[mtuandrew]

Are the Comet IIIs coming active again? I haven’t ever gotten a straight answer about what they need to return to service.

[braves]

What about the LIRR summer service for 2018, last summer, they borrowed 20 MARC railcars to free up the double decker cars for the busy Montauk Branch.

[sammy2009]

I guess SEPTA started a trend lol. I'm sure MARC is loving the trade off...and extra $$$$$.

[NJT Rider]

Can a PL fit into the Baltimore Tunnels?

[Backshophoss]

The cars that are leased are single level cars and are setup with cab signals/ACSES.

[blockline4180]

Can a PL fit into the Baltimore Tunnels?

Sending a PL42 in exchange for the MARC cars may have been a hoax... Who knows what engine.. Maybe GP40 is a guess.

[blockline4180]

The cars that are leased are single level cars and are setup with cab signals/ACSES.

Okay, so then I am assuming they will use the cab cars since they are compatible with NJT signal system? Crews will have to be trained no?

[trainster78]

Are the Comet IIIs coming active again? I haven’t ever gotten a straight answer about what they need to return to service.

Not a chance. The Comet III's NJTR still have are rusting away at Bay Head Yard (NJCL) with graffiti all over. I saw that first hand not to long ago. However, bringing the Comet IV's back wouldn't be a bad idea.

[mtuandrew]

Not a chance. The Comet III's NJTR still have are rusting away at Bay Head Yard (NJCL) with graffiti all over. I saw that first hand not to long ago. However, bringing the Comet IV's back wouldn't be a bad idea.

I thought the IVs were still in service. Where did they go?

[MACTRAXX]

What about the LIRR summer service for 2018, last summer, they borrowed 20 MARC railcars to free up the double decker cars for the busy Montauk Branch.

Braves (and Everyone:)

The LIRR leased eight MARC single level cars for the 2017 Summer season. They were used on two
weekday Port Jefferson peak trains #613 west and #664 east. There were two DE30 locomotives
that were modified and used on this train. MARC cabcars did not lead even though they were
included as part of this lease as they were not LIRR Automatic Speed Control equipped.
See: viewtopic.php?f=63&t=165423" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The 2018 LIRR Summer lease looks to be 20-22 MARC cars. What is interesting is that LIRR and
NJT may now be in a sort of competition to lease any available MARC passenger equipment.

Will the forthcoming NJT lease include any of MARC's new multilevel cars?
They should be compatible with NJT's fleet...
The MARC Kawasaki bi-levels do not clear under the overhead wire in the tunnels into NYP.

MACTRAXX

[DutchRailnut]

no multi levels involved , but supposedly Amtrak is leasing some of the Marc I and II cab cars for empire service into GCT when Empire connection is shut down for bridge and over build rehabilitation.

[blockline4180]

What engine are they sending them??? Guess nobody cares about these prospects or when they arrive.. Might not help the situation

[JamesRR]

Not a chance. The Comet III's NJTR still have are rusting away at Bay Head Yard (NJCL) with graffiti all over. I saw that first hand not to long ago. However, bringing the Comet IV's back wouldn't be a bad idea.

I thought the IVs were still in service. Where did they go?

Me too? I know I've seen some in morning consists. I assume they're put in for accessibility reasons.