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NJ Transit upgrading bilevel cars
Umm, ok, good. But what about that fact that you have nowhere to put your coat and bag downstairs, and you can only get a 6" bag in the racks upstairs? Also, I’ve never seen it, but what happens when people from the airport station get on with bags?
Nice to see scheduled maintenance performed by the manufacturer. Transit coaches need periodic maintenance more than other types of coach given the volume they handle. Im glad Bombardier is performing this maintenance for NJT.
Regularly replacing springs? Never heard of that; but it stands to reason that springs would suffer fatigue from repeated flexing at some point and this would be preventive.
These cars were a mistake to begin with…the number of added seats were not significant enough to warrant the costs. MU electrics were more in order for the short station distances and the hilly grades of North Jersey. Crews who have to walk a trains maybe 10 times a trip have to climb stairs up and down to get to passengers, a physical burden on some causing leg problems and quicker tiring or fatigue. More trains, fewer cars (preferably MU trains single level cars) would carry more people per hour than these lumbering boxes behind or ahead of cumbersome locomotives. If not MU’s then single level coaches with dual power locomotives with shorter and more frequent trains. Next they should add tracks where ever there is room rather than buying larger cars and heavier and slower power.
These cars were a mistake to begin with…the number of added seats were not significant enough to warrant the costs. MU electrics were more in order for the short station distances and the hilly grades of North Jersey. Crews who have to walk a trains maybe 10 times a trip have to climb stairs up and down to get to passengers, a physical burden on some causing leg problems and quicker tiring or fatigue. More trains, fewer cars (preferably MU trains single level cars) would carry more people per hour than these lumbering boxes behind or ahead of cumbersome locomotives. If not MU’s then single level coaches with dual power locomotives with shorter and more frequent trains. Next they should add tracks where ever there is room rather than buying larger cars and heavier and slower power.
The problem with more trains is the limited capacity of the two tubes under the Hudson (North) River.
LIRR has used bi-levels, for many, many moons, but the complaints are minimal. I, too, would like single-level cars on my “Empire Builder” (with domes), but that ain’t gonn’a happen.
I use the train t/f EWR regularly. Usually I have a small “carry on” and a backpack. I have gotten clever laying the carry on down on the floor an putting the backpack on top between my legs during rush hour, freeing the seat beside me up… That said I like the single level Comets or Arrow MUs better especially with large luggage since everything pretty much fits in that overhead rack provided you can lift lift it. Also use the same techniques on the LIRR CIII Bilevels… And again, I prefer the M7 or M3 MUs when going to JFK, for the same reasons. From a systems integration standpoint I always found the Bilevels on NJT counter productive: >They build a glorified train station at the airport, but it is not user friendly from a luggage standpoint. >They want to get people on and off trains faster for rush hour, but you have stairs to climb no matter what, creating choke points. This negates the efficiencies of high level platforms. >It is harder to walk the train to find a seat and people just congregate at the ends of the cars on the “center level”. That’s just my 2 cents a user of the system…
Interesting to read the comments especially regarding baggage/luggage space. I know these trains are “commuter” specific equipment but maybe this narrow focus is one of our stupid hurtles to getting people out of cars. Passenger rail cars are “high volume” and the space whether single or double level should accommodate users of all types: baby strollers, bicycles, wheelchairs and luggage. When one rides a German or Swiss regional train during the morning rush hour to the airport there is room for the above mentioned items so why can’t we get it??
What is also needed is outlets and WiFi.
Since these cars are rotating out of service then they should become Wifi equipped as well
To William D Hays;
Yes, LIRR (aka the Long Island H-ll Road) uses bilevels. While the seats are wider then on the M7’s, the headrests and armrests seem designed more for torture then comfort (the headrests have a W shape on the side facing the passengers head), the horizontal part tends to slope down and away, the bathrooms are odoriferous, the automatic display and announcement systems are either frequently broken or unused, and they are well past the estimated 10 year lifetime. However, the AC does sometimes work, the lighting, though garrish, usually works, the doors don’t break as often as they used to, and not being MU they are not as open to snow damage as the M’s.
If the complaints are minimal, it’s mainly because people have long since given up complaining.
Oh, btw, they are a few inches too tall to fit into the 63rd St tunnel that in another 10 or 20 years might finally provide East Side Access for LIRR. So passengers from ‘diesel country’ (the area LIRR likes to pretend has few commuters) will have to make the infamous Transfer At Jamaica to get to Grand Central, if and when ESA is ever complete.