The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board approved an order for at least 60, and up to a total of 94 additional new M8 rail cars from Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. The new vehicles, designed to be enabled with Positive Train Control, will be put into operation on Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line.
The order approved consists of a base order of 60 cars and an option for an additional 34 cars. The base order is expected to include the retrofit of 10 existing M8 cars into café cars.
The M8 cars have improved customer satisfaction levels and have achieved very high mechanical reliability, far in excess of expectations.
The M8 coach cars for use on the New Haven Line are funded 65% by the State of Connecticut and 35% by the MTA Capital Program. M8 café cars are funded entirely by the State of Connecticut.
The M8 cars are the most technologically sophisticated in Metro-North’s fleet. They have third rail shoes that can receive 700- to 750-volt direct current to power the trains between Pelham and Grand Central Terminal, and the capability to run under two types of alternating current from overhead wire, known as catenary. The New Haven Line and its New Canaan Branch use 60 cycle, 12.5 kilovolt power. The cars can also operate at the higher, 60 cycle, 25 kilovolt power, which is used on the Shore Line East route east of New Haven.
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