Is MetroNorth Going Bi-Level?

Ooooh, how European. Metro-North Railroad is considering buying double-decker coaches for its Harlem and Hudson lines, according to the New York Times. The purchase would bring less crowded cars to the commuter lines, adding enough space for 1/3 more people to get on board. The price is right, too: the two-level trains cost just as much as the current single-story ones.

Railroad officials say a purchase could happen sometime in 2015, and note that the taller trains will "be designed to fit the narrow clearance of the tunnel to Grand Central Terminal." One way to make them fit, however, is to take out some overhead luggage racks. Another downside: everyone is going to want the upper deck, so things might get nasty between commuters making a dash for the prime real estate—does this happen on the New Jersey Transit double-deckers?

A spokesman for New Jersey Transit told the paper, “Customers love them for a number of reasons. They are quieter, and you have more leg room. It’s been overwhelmingly positive.”

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By Jen Carlson in News on August 16, 2010 3:28 PM

Comments [rss]

jaycjay

"Another downside: everyone is going to want the upper deck,"

Completely groundless speculation, and certainly not the case on the LIRR. Many passengers feel that an increased perception of "sway" on the upper deck is disconcerting and uncomfortable.

Såkandulæredet

NYC should get double-decker buses too! Well at least for the express buses that go to the Bronx and Queens and stuff.

Jewey Nougat

I'm surprised they're popular. From what I've seen on the Harlem line, people will do anything to be as close to the exit as possible so they can get off 5 seconds faster. Sitting on the aisle, sitting near the door, getting up early, etc.

Dave Aiello

If you had to guess based on this article, some editors spend more time on regional trains in places like France than they do in New Jersey or Long Island.

I live in Pennsylvania, so I spend plenty of time on New Jersey Transit and ride their bi-level trains. But the first place I ever saw cars like these was in France in 2001 (on the regional rail services provided by http://www.ter-sncf.com/).

paulie

Why does "European" keep coming up in articles about double decker trains? Jersey and LI have had them for years.

TeddyNYC

Yeah, but the Europeans have been using them a lot longer. In fact, I saw my first bi-level cars in East Germany in 1990. I was traveling by train with my parents from the town where my grandmother lived (near Frankfurt am Main) to West Berlin; a few months after the wall came down. It was a 6 hour trip and along the way I saw green & brown bi-level cars that were run by the East German Railway 'DR'. They looked old, like they were in service for many years. Today, it's common to see more modern-looking bi-level cars throughout Europe.

jaycjay

"Yeah, but the Europeans have been using them a lot longer."

That you personally saw them first in Europe is irrelevant. Bi-level passenger rail cars have been in use in the U.S. since at least the 1940s.