New Jersey Transit Green Lights ‘Expanded’ Light Rail Vehicles

Newark, NJ, July 9, 2014 – NJ TRANSIT’s Board of Directors said tonight that the experiment was a success. Twenty-five Hudson-Bergen and ten Newark City Subway LRVs (Light Rail Vehicles) will be retrofitted with extra capacity that offers 50% more seating in late 2015. The test configuration went into operation a year ago in cooperation with car builder KinkiSharyo and HBLRT operator Twenty-First Century Rail Corporation. The move echoes Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) with the expansion of their KinkiSharyo-built LRVs that gave similar results.
The expanded light rail vehicle was originally placed into revenue service on July 4, 2013 and rotated to operate along the three segments of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system over the course of a six-month pilot program.
The move is expected to save NJ Transit a considerable amount of money long-term. By not purchasing new vehicles and deploying a retrofit, 75% of the cost of a new 2-car set could be channeled into the existing fleet and offer more seats to the public. It also is expected to save wear and tear by utilizing one set of powered units instead of two and require less maintenance overall. In effect, this is a low-cost solution to a vexing problem for commuters since the HBLRT went into operation in 2000.
NJ Transit Executive Director Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim said passengers were clamoring for additional seating the HBLRT system that averages 45,000 commuters daily.
The design differs from the Dallas cars in that two extra sections need to be added to the ‘2 beds and a bath’ concept that originated as an experimental design on the BMT in Brooklyn NY nearly a hundred years ago. By expanding the cars to a ‘3 beds and 2 baths’ design, the additional trailer sections increase the car length by 37 feet and expand seating capacity from 68 to 102 seats in addition to providing additional standing room. By utilizing existing resources and spare Hudson-Bergen Light Rail equipment, the conversion is estimated to be significantly less than purchasing new standard light rail vehicles. NJ TRANSIT will conduct a full evaluation of the pilot program before determining whether to expand additional light rail vehicles in its fleet.
Before the testing for the new configuration began a YEAR AGO, the New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chairman James Simpson at the time said, “Through customer surveys conducted as part of NJ TRANSIT’s Scorecard initiative, we’ve heard from customers, particularly on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system, that crowding on trains is a top concern. Through a successful public-private partnership with the vehicle’s manufacturer, we will be piloting an expanded light rail vehicle on our system to test the feasibility of converting additional vehicles in our light rail fleet in order to increase capacity and ensure a comfortable ride for more customers.”

Photo caption: Interior and exterior of the test car for NJ Transit's stretch light rail vehicle