NJ TRANSIT Adding Longer Cars To Hudson-Bergen Light Rail
HOBOKEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - If you ride the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, you may soon have more room when you board.
With Hudson River fireworks viewing in mind, NJ TRANSIT will be adding cars that are 37 feet longer to some trains starting Thursday, WCBS 880's Levon Putney reported.
Kinkisharyo International LLC, the original manufacturer of the HBLR cars, came up with a design for an expanded vehicle that adds two additional sections to the existing light rail vehicle, increasing the number of sections from three to five.
NJ TRANSIT Adding Longer Cars To Hudson-Bergen Light Rail
That will expand seating capacity by about 50 percent per car, going from 68 seats to 102 seats.
"As well as provide additional standing room," said NJ TRANSIT Deputy General Manager John Squiteri on Wednesday, noting that will increase overall capacity by about 100 people.
He added that riders have been asking for elbow room, especially during the morning and afternoon rush hours.
"In fact, if the HLBR were a commuter rail line, it would be our third busiest rail line, after the Northeast Corridor and the Morris and Essex lines," he said.
Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise said the need is obvious.
"When you ride up and down the line here, you see big buildings, you see new neighborhoods," he said.
They'll be rolling out more of the longer cars over the next six months until half of the trains feature expanded cars. At that point, they'll evaluate the program and decide whether to expand additional cars.
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