MBTA Plans to Phase Out Single-Decker Commuter Rail Cars – Boston News, Weather, Sports

MBTA supervisors voted Thursday to purchase more than three dozen additional dual-level commuter cars, a move officials said will allow the agency to retire single-level cars across the network.

The T’s board of directors approved exercising a $165 million option on the agency’s existing contract with Hyundai Rotem to buy 39 more cars for a commuter rail network whose ridership growth has far outpaced other forms of public transportation.

In 2019, the MBTA awarded a contract to Hyundai Rotem for 83 buses, 16 of which will go to the in-development South Coast Rail project. Officials added 41 more coaches in May, and on Thursday they moved to finalize the option and lock in the remaining 39 coaches listed in the original deal.

William Wolfgang, the T’s senior director of vehicle engineering, said the new vehicles will “enhance our reliability and customer satisfaction.” Once all 163 cars are online, the T will be able to eliminate single-level commuter cars and use only double-decker cars, he said.

Officials said the cars could also be powered entirely by an electric locomotive instead of one that uses greenhouse gas-based fuel. Wolfgang called them “future-oriented.”

Commuter rail has been a bright spot on the MBTA, which like most other transit agencies has struggled to attract as many riders as it did before the pandemic.

According to data presented by Wolfgang, the Keolis-operated commuter rail network carried 94 percent more people in September 2024 than in September 2019, higher than MBTA ferries (83 percent), buses (81 percent) and subways (53 percent). .

“This is really good news for us,” he said of the commuter rail operation.

(Copyright (c) State House News Service 2024).