Update: New Haven Line M-8 Rail Cars
May 8, 2012

This status report will be updated periodically to provide the most current information on the M-8 rail car procurement.

Current Status of the M-8s.

Delivered to New Haven Yard	Under Inspection and Testing by Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc.	Conditionally Accepted by Metro-North Railroad for Service	Information Provided
108 (total)	8	100	5/8/12
100 (total)	14	86	4/2/12
78 (total)	0	78	2/6/12
74 (total)	10	64	1/11/12
68 (total)	8	60	12/22/11
68 (total)	12	56	12/19/11
68 (total)	14	54	12/15/11
64 (total)	16	48	12/9/11
56 (total)	12	44 (includes 2 undergoing modifications)	11/28/11
42 (total)	10	36 (includes 4 undergoing modifications)	10/20/11
38 (total)	8	30	9/20/11
34 (total)	4	30	8/1/11
34 (total)	8	26	6/14/11
32 (total)	12	20	6/6/11
28 (total)	8	20	5/16/11

State of Connecticut & MTA/Metro-North Railroad Purchased 25 M-8 Single Rail Cars

Last year, twenty-five new single M-8 rail cars were added to the 380 M-8 rail cars already on order from Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. for use on the New Haven Line. The new cars will be "singles," as opposed to the "married pairs" now being delivered. This will provide the additional advantage of being able to add one car, instead of two, on trains and is a very efficient way to add capacity in order to meet ridership growth.

The roll out of the new M-8s on the New Haven Line (NHL) continues. Of the 380 original order, the first 38 were built in Kobe, Japan, and the remaining 342 are being built at Kawasaki's plant in Lincoln, Nebraska.

More M-8's In Service

A total of 100 M8 cars support the 78 M8s (two 10-car train, five 8-car train sets and three 6-car train sets) operating in regularly scheduled train service as of May 8, 2012.

Customers have the opportunity to ride one or more of the 448 weekly trains (343 weekday and 105 weekend) operating in scheduled New Haven Line service with the 10 M8 train sets. The new M8 trains represent 31.1% of the total New Haven Line main line Mon-Thursday weekday service, 29.9% of the total Friday weekday service, 48.7% of the total service on Saturdays and 52.2% on Sundays.

These trains operate during peak and off-peak service between New Haven, Stamford and Grand Central Terminal.

The new cars have received overwhelmingly positive customer feedback. Click here to see customer reaction:

M-8 Bike Rack Prototype

The Connecticut Department of Transportation and MTA Metro-North Railroad (MNR) tested two prototype bike mount systems specifically designed and manufactured for the M8 fleet by Sportworks on a pair of new M8s. A final prototype design is under review by Metro-North and the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Production Progress

• Kawasaki continues to prepare M8 cars for the testing phase before being accepted for regularly scheduled train service.

(Updates are reflected in bold.)