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.”
