Goodbye PCC. Hello, LRV - Newark, New Jersey, replacing Presidential Conference Committee railroad cars with light rail vehicles - Brief Article

Railway Age, August, 2001 by William C. Vantuono

Forty-seven years after they entered service on the Newark City Subway, New Jersey Transit's 24 PCC (Presidential Conference Committee) cars are being retired to make way for 16 new Kinkisharyo low-floor light rail vehicles. The replacement program is part of NJ Transit's $188 million Newark City Subway Revitalization/Modernization Program.

The City Subway opened in 1935. It originally supported seven surface trolley lines that served Newark and surrounding communities. Those lines were all converted to bus in the 1950s. Thought was given to converting the City Subway to a dedicated busway, but in 1953, NJ Transit predecessor company Public Service Coordinated Transport decided instead to operate the line with FCC cars purchased from Twin Cities Transit Company of Minneapolis. The cars were built between 1946 and 1949.

"While our FCC cars are running well, they lack modern amenities, and replacement parts are hard to find," says NJ Transit Assistant General Manager-Light Rail Mike Magdziak. Rebuilding them would cost $1.5 million each and add ten years to their life. By comparison, the LRVs, which cost $3.4 million each, have a 30-year life span.

The articulated, hi-directional LRVs are virtually identical to those on NJ Transit's Hudson-Bergen light rail system, except for wheel profile. Air-conditioned and ADA-compliant, they offer twice the passenger capacity (188) and four times the number of doors (8) of the PCCs. They will be maintained at the new Vehicle Base Facility, located on a one-mile extension of the City Subway's northern end. The extension includes two new stations (see map). The modernization program also included replacing the City Subway's trolley wire with constant-tension catenary, and installing a GE Transportation Systems Global Signaling (originally Harmon) cab signal system. SYSTRA Consulting provided principal design and engineering and construction management services.

The PCCs were scheduled to end their nearly half-century of service on Friday, Aug. 24. Weekday-only revenue service with LRVs on the original line was scheduled to begin the following Monday. The full, extended line will enter seven-day-per-week revenue service when construction is completed later this year. Construction will commence this fall on the next extension of the City Subway: Minimum Operating Segment-1 of the Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link, scheduled to open in 2005. It will connect Newark Penn Station with Broad Street Station on NJ Transit's Morris & Essex Lines.