ConnDOT ups M8 car order by 25

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has announced the Nutmeg State’s intention to purchase 25 additional M-8 electric multiple-unit (EMU) train cars for use by Metro-North Railroad on the New Haven Line. Connecticut and New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) already have ordered 380 M-8 cars, the first of which began revenue operation earlier this year.

Unlike earlier orders, however, the 25 new cars, to be produced by Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., will be capable of operating in single units, as opposed to the married pairs more prevalent in the M-8 order (and in Metro-North EMU operations in general). The change will allow more flexibility in adding cars to existing consists to meet ridership fluctuations, Connecticut officials said.

Connecticut will cover $60.5 million of the anticipated cost, with New York State contributing $32.6 million of the $93.1 million order, hewing to a standard cost sharing between the two states for capital investment on Metro-North’s New Haven Line. The cars will be manufactured at Kawasaki’s U.S. plants in Yonkers, N.Y., and Lincoln, Neb. 

“I have made a commitment to our commuters to do everything we can to improve service, safety, and reliability on the New Haven Line, “ Gov. Malloy said in a statement. Criticism of the New Haven Line’s reliability has mounted in the past two years, reaching peak intensity last winter when older MU equipment struggled to maintain service in adverse weather conditions.