Metro North M8s enter revenue service

[nycemt326 6]

Thats great news, maybe I will go back up to CT this summer, last time I took the train on the New Haven line, my train caught fire at the Mamaroneck station.

[BmSmall92 1]

From New Haven to Boston the power in the catenary is 25,000 volts and on the Hellgate line the power is 12,500. Amtrak's catenary system besides having more power is a different system than what the M2's M4's, and M6's were designed for. I'm not sure of the technological jargon as I don't work in ET but the style of pantographs Metro-North uses on the previous sets is also a contributing factor. Some of this info here is going on my long term memory as I haven't work up to Boston in 4 years, but I was a qualfied conductor at one time up that way. There have been rumors for a couple of years now on the railroad that Metro-North has ambitions to use the Hell gate line and the Empire Connection to get into Penn Station. Also the M8's wouldn't have to worry about using the third rail in Penn Station as long as they used the catenary.

[mikeinet 37]

very cool, thanks for the details! Nice to see there was careful planning done here and not "hacks done to bandaid things" after the fact!

[TRUCK6018 50]

However the rate raising on both the MNR (note: none of the mnr ct stops had their fares raised) and the subway and bus lines don't add up.

The reason that the MNR NY stops and NYC transit fares were raised are quite simple. The MTA has direct control over the NY fares (with approval by the NY State legislature). The MTA can not raise the Connecticut fares as they don't have any control over them. The Connecticut fares are regulated by the CDOT (State of Connecticut). This is the reason that the Port Chester and Rye fares are as low as they are. When the latest fare hikes were proposed, these fares were due to be higher. Instead they kept them the same as the neighboring Greenwich fares.

Not only were the CT fares not raised this last year but they haven't been raised the last two or three times the NY fares have been raised. Last year Connecticut was talking about raising their fares once the M8's start going into revenue service. It is my speculation that when they do get raised it's going to be steep. Time will tell.

[M' Ave 1,466]

From New Haven to Boston the power in the catenary is 25,000 volts and on the Hellgate line the power is 12,500. Amtrak's catenary system besides having more power is a different system than what the M2's M4's, and M6's were designed for. I'm not sure of the technological jargon as I don't work in ET but the style of pantographs Metro-North uses on the previous sets is also a contributing factor. Some of this info here is going on my long term memory as I haven't work up to Boston in 4 years, but I was a qualfied conductor at one time up that way. There have been rumors for a couple of years now on the railroad that Metro-North has ambitions to use the Hell gate line and the Empire Connection to get into Penn Station. Also the M8's wouldn't have to worry about using the third rail in Penn Station as long as they used the catenary.

They WILL in fact need to use the 3rd rail. The frequency that power is delivered at (hertz) is not compatible with the M8, south of New Rochelle. The M8 car weighs 133,000lbs, thats each individual car. So, we're talking about a 10 car train that weighs almost 1.5 million pounds. This is overweight, but it would have been further over weight had the additional transformers for the Hell Gate catanary frequency not been removed from the plans.

[grumpyff 1,159]

Are you certain? I'm not, but I thought that the total number of M-7s exceeded the number of M-1s retired. The retired 0 M-3s?

M7s seat less customers than the M1 due to ADA compliant bathroom and electronic equipment protected in the car body, so a greater number of cars were needed to maintain number of seats. The M8s have he same problem, but are wider than the M7 so there is greater comfort for the passengers. M7 designed to be narrower due to LIRR requirements, Metro North was forced to be stuck with it.

Edited March 4, 2011 by grumpyff