Refurbished PATCO Cars On High Speed Line Expected To Debut In February
By David Madden
LINDENWOLD, N.J. (CBS) --- For a couple of years now, plans to put newly refurbished train cars on the PATCO high-speed line were just that -- plans. But come next month, riders will be able to actually get on the first batch of those cars.
Eight cars that have been refitted from the shells were sitting in PATCO's Lindenwold lot for more than a year, as the New York state firm hired to do the work wrestled with various software issues. It appears the bugs are gone, according to John Hanson, CEO of the Delaware River Port Authority.
"We have successfully completed the 500 mile test which marks the nearing of the end of the prototyping and design phase of this project," Hanson said.
Once final tests are done, Hanson expects those cars will be put in service during non-peak hours sometime in February. You could see them in rush hours by spring, depending on how quickly the next few cars are readied.
In time, all 120 cars in the fleet will get that new look and feel, at a cost of $194 million, which is far less than what it would have cost to get new ones.