BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

'On Metro-North's New Haven Line, New Cars Arrive'



By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Published: March 1, 2011 The New York Times


Much has changed in the 40 years since Corydon B. Dunham began commuting to his home in Riverside, Conn., from New York City. Most of the trains he rides on, however, have not.

The M-8 Metro-North train car is two inches wider than any other car on the railroad, and each row of seats has its own electrical outlets.

So it was a bit of a shock for Mr. Dunham, 83, when he stepped onto a train at Grand Central Terminal on Tuesday and discovered that his usual dingy 1970s-era ride had been replaced with a bright-red, new train car that looked more as if it belonged in Europe than in the Northeast Corridor.

Mr. Dunham, a retired lawyer, was among the first Metro-North Railroad passengers to ride the long-awaited M-8s, the first new train cars to run on the New Haven line in nearly two decades.

The first of the new cars pulled out of the Stamford, Conn., station at 10:30 a.m. on time, but in another sense, more than two years late: the M-8s were originally expected to make their debut in 2009, but technical problems held them back.

The railroad expects about 80 new cars to be in operation by the end of the year enough for 10 trains, each of which is expected to make several round trips per day.

Still, the rollout of 380 new cars will be slower than some passengers would like, particularly after a winter during which the line's 63,000 riders were plagued by so many breakdowns and delays that the railroad had to cut back its schedule.

All the new cars are expected to be in service by late 2013, but next winter will still be a slog, said Howard Permut, the president of the railroad. We're going to struggle to get through another winter with all the older vehicles, he said.

The new cars, which will make stops in Connecticut and Westchester County, have a pleasant, clean odor that might best be described as new train smell. The imitation-leather seats are comfortable, and every row has its own set of electrical outlets, a boon to the BlackBerry set that frequents the Connecticut-New York financial corridor.

That the trains feel roomier, airier and brighter than their 1970s-era predecessors is more than an impression. The ceiling is arced instead of flat, and the cars are two inches wider than any other train now in use on Metro-North.

The interior is a sleek composition of gray chrome curves (overhead luggage racks, deeper and wider than their predecessors) and red-and-cream details (the seating and a few fold-out benches). Windows, 33 percent larger than those on the older trains, offer postcard-worthy portraits of the passing views. A distinctive egg-shape fluorescent light hangs above the entry vestibule.

Erika Thomson, a yoga instructor headed to the Larchmont station, said, I kind of wondered if it was just an exhibit before I got on.

She added, I wish airplanes were this comfy.

A test run of the restroom, set off by a gracefully arced plastic divider, found it to be roomy and clean; a red LED sign conveniently turned on to prove the door was definitively locked. Passengers walking between cars could press a single button to open both sets of doors at once.

Riders snapped photographs and even called friends to inform them of the new cars. But by the time the train emerged from the Park Avenue Tunnel, on its way to suburban points north, the commuters had fallen into the usual commuter routines: naps, newspapers, DVDs.

Mr. Dunham, however, was enthralled. It's first class, Mr. Dunham said approvingly as his train whooshed through the Bronx. The colors! he said, referring to the bright new seats. I never would have thought you could make red and light gray look so good.

It really is a triumph, Mr. Dunham concluded, as he reached to pay for his ticket. And, to the conductor counting his change, he said, enjoy your new environment.

Photo by Douglas Healy for The Times.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York


The new M-8 Metro-North train car was introduced on Tuesday in Stamford, Conn.

[djmarco12]