BERGEN, N.J. — NJ Transit will consider awarding a $250 million contract this week for at least 100 bi-level rail cars to ease chronic crowding on its New York-bound trains, reports the Bergen Record.
Testing on the cars would begin in late 2005, and the agency would expect delivery in 2006.
“These cars will provide us with about 20 [percent] to 25 percent more seating capacity than traditional single-level cars,” said NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett-Hackett. “As we integrate service through the Secaucus Transfer, it will help us to meet capacity into New York.”
The Secaucus Transfer station, a mammoth rail hub in the Meadowlands, would connect NJ Transit’s lines and give riders from the Main, Bergen, and Pascack lines direct access to midtown Manhattan, bypassing Hoboken.
The station was supposed to open in 2001, but will not open for weekday service until late next year, at the earliest, because of construction delays and a shift in commuting patterns resulting from the terrorist attacks that forced thousands more onto New York-bound trains.
One of the bidders for the bi-level contract is thought to be Bombardier Inc., one of the manufacturers of the Acela Express, Amtrak’s high-speed train. Amtrak is suing the Canadian company, seeking more than $200 million in damages for “extraordinary delays” and “pervasive failures” in carrying out a contract to build 20 of the trains.
Bombardier sued Amtrak for $200 million in November 2001, charging, among other things, that the rail agency didn’t sufficiently upgrade its Northeastern tracks to prepare for the new trains.
“We cannot confirm or deny Bombardier is the successful bidder,” Bassett-Hackett said.
She continued: “There was a process to secure a manufacturer for the bi-levels. I can tell you we have a history with Bombardier. They have a proven performance with us, manufacturing our Comet II, Comet III, and Comet IVs. We won’t comment on the pending lawsuit, but can tell you that the contract [
with Amtrak] was for high-speed locomotives and cars, and these are for coaches.”
Funding for the bi-level cars was secured this year by Governor McGreevey through the Port Authority. NJ Transit would have the option to buy another 131 cars.