LIRR issues RFEI for extra railcars to reinforce diesel fleet

The LIRR has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) seeking information from the industry about options for leasing passenger railcars.  The LIRR says that they are contemplating supplementing their diesel fleet with up to 26 passenger coaches from another railroad under a lease agreement.  An RFEI is among the very first steps of the process, meant to gauge potential interest from across the industry before preparing and issuing a formal request for proposals (and this feedback can be used to properly draft the RFP in a way that will likely get a response).  The RFEI was released on January 22 and responses are due back this afternoon (February 23).

This is not the first time LIRR has gone down this road.  The railroad issued a similar request back in October 2013 looking for as many as 7 complete trainsets (including sets of 2-4 passenger cars and 2 locomotives each).  LIRR did not get the answer they were looking for.  

MARC cars in operation on LIRR train 613 at
Kings Park in 2017 (Photo: LIRR)

But several years later, the LIRR was able to reach a lease agreement with MARC in Maryland to lease single-level passenger coaches starting in 2017 (but no locomotives).  The LIRR operated 8 Sumitomo MARC II single-level railcars ​for the summer of 2017 (which were used on a pair of Port Jefferson trains during the "summer of hell").  These cars had been bouncing around—they were leased by SEPTA the prior year when a large portion of their Silverliner V fleet was taken out of service, and the same cars would also be leased by NJT in 2018 when a large number of their cars were pulled from service to install PTC equipment. 

The original agreement (staff summary) was for a one-year lease with two additional one-year options (for a total of 3 years, 2017-2019).  The lease also included provisions for lease of up to 21 cars after the LIRR could complete modifications to allow MARC cab cars to lead trains pushed by LIRR locomotives (testing with C-3 cab cars did take place in the fall of 2017 and appeared successful).  But the LIRR either dropped the ball on exercising the options or failed to enforce its contract and the cars never returned for 2018 or ever since...

The LIRR has longstanding issues with its diesel fleet and has been struggling with capacity for more than a decade.  When the LIRR ordered the current C-3 diesel fleet, they ordered far fewer cars than the old fleet they were replacing, and cut seating capacity by 15% over the older fleet.  This not only greatly reduced capacity on the diesel branches, but has left the railroad zero room for growth on the diesel branches as population grows and travel patterns change in diesel territory.  The LIRR has used the lack of diesel equipment as an excuse as to why they can't improve service in diesel territory for the last 15 years.  The LIRR's new service plan for East Side Access brought virtually no improvements to service on the diesel branches, the railroad claims because they don't have enough equipment...

In addition to the longstanding capacity crunch during normal operations, the diesel fleet is pushed to its limits during the summer with extreme crowding, short trains, and delays common on summer weekends as riders overwhelm Montauk Branch trains.

The most obvious use case for additional cars is to supplement the diesel fleet during the summer months when it is stretched to the limit.  In 2017, the LIRR used 6 of the 8 cars on Port Jefferson trains 613 and 664 which made a single round-trip from Port Jefferson to Hunterspoint Avenue and back and reassigned the regular cars on those trains to other branches.  The rise of work from home and changing travel patterns on the South Fork means that there is not the extreme volume of people heading east on Fridays and back west on Sundays, plus the LIRR's summer service was so bad for so long that many riders are fed up and have been finding other ways to get where they want to go (with seasonal ridership to/from the Hamptons steadily declining since 2013).  But there's still plenty of room for reinforcements, especially if the railroad wants to mount more than the usual summer service offering with its regular shortcomings.

But more diesel cars could also provide relief for riders during peak hours year-round.  The LIRR is also now greatly struggling with capacity on its electric fleet since the start of East Side Access.  The railroad has failed to complete the M-9/M-9A order in a timely manner, and is significantly short of EMU cars compared to what it expected to have for ESA opening day.  As a result, the LIRR has been scrambling to match capacity to demand (frequently failing to do so), and has most recently resorted to cutting rush hour trains to reallocate cars to other trains.  

With additional diesel cars, the railroad could boost capacity during rush hours by building up the 5 dual mode sets that operate into/out of NY-Penn Station.  Running the Port Jefferson and Speonk dual modes with 10 or 12 cars could offer additional capacity for these trains to make stops in electric territory (e.g. Port Jefferson dual modes could add stops at Cold Spring Harbor, Syosset, Hicksville, and Mineola; the Speonk dual modes can add stops at Amityville, Massapequa Park, Massapequa, and Seaford).  This would take stress off of electric trains during busy times, perhaps allowing for cars or entire electric sets to be shuffled around to other trains.  The leased cars could backfill capacity on other diesel trains that operate to/from Hunterspoint Avenue. It would be a far faster solution than waiting around for the M-9A order to get figured out.

After LIRR failed to get the MARC cars back in 2018, the railroad issued a new RFEI starting the process over again.  I was admonished by the MTA at the time for characterizing it as a pointless exercise, but ultimately the railroad's effort proved to be fruitless...  Because of the LIRR's difficult clearance requirements, with car heights limited by tunnels and low overpasses, and the carbody shape limited by third rail, platforms and canopies, and other obstructions there are simply very few compatible cars that meet the LIRR's clearance requirements.  Pretty much any railroad outside the northeast have much more generous loading gauges, and most operate bi-level cars that are several feet taller than LIRR's equipment.  With so few options out there, the second-hand market has been almost non-existent.

But there may be some better prospects this time around.  With commuter rail ridership across the country remaining significantly lower following the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the LIRR's peer systems are operating well below pre-pandemic capacity, and several are still operating reduced schedules.  Some of these railroads may now be able to part with some equipment (if a railroad is operating at 70% of pre-pandemic ridership, they could conceivably lease out up to 30% of their coach fleet and still have enough room for everyone).  This would not only bring short-term relief for LIRR riders, and bring in revenue for struggling commuter systems.  

There are likely more options out there, but the railroad still has an uphill battle.  Some potential options include:

• MBTA MBB BTC-3/Bombardier BTC-1 coaches: The MBTA has a number of single-level cars.  16 of these cars were used by CTrail on the Hartford Line, but have recently been returned with the start of M-8 electric service on Shore Line East.  However, the MBTA's commuter rail operation is one of the few US commuter railroads to see a robust ridership recovery, with Commuter Rail ridership rebounding to nearly 95% of pre-pandemic levels last fall. MBTA is also planning on expanding its network and completing the first phase of the South Coast Rail Project at some point this year.  The MBTA's Kawasaki bi-level cars are too tall to fit the LIRR's clearance requirements. 
• SEPTA Comet I/II coaches: SEPTA has 45 unpowered Comet coaches (same as the equipment used by NJT, Metro-North, and CTrail) that are used for push-pull trains.  These cars are mainly used only during peak hours on express trains (while SEPTA principally uses their EMU fleet for other trains).  SEPTA is in the process of replacing these cars with new CRRC cars, but these have been delayed.  Perhaps they could part with some of them earlier than that.
• VRE/CTrail Mafersa coaches: There are 33 coaches that were originally built by Brazillian manufacturer Mafersa for Virginia Railway Express and sold to the Connecticut Department of Transportation in 2004.  Some of these cars were rebuilt and used on CTrail's Shore Line East service for many years until electric service with M-8 cars started on SLE in 2022, and then the cars were shifted over to the Hartford Line.  However, there are still other cars that are in storage and not used for Hartford Line service.  While these single-level cars fit inside the tunnels, these cars reportedly have clearance issues with third rail (and never operated into Metro-North's third rail territory or GCT when they were used on Shore Line East).  These cars also have manual doors, which make their use on busy rush hour trains impractical.  
• NJT Comet II/IV/V and MLV I/II coaches: all of NJT's push-pull coaches could conceivably work with the LIRR's clearance requirements, as they operate in the same East River Tunnels the LIRR uses between Manhattan and Sunnyside Yard in Queens.  While NJT has restored most rail lines to pre-pandemic service levels, they are not carrying as many riders as pre-pandemic and could conceivably loan out some cars.
• Exo (formerly AMT) MLV I coaches: Exo in Montreal operates 160 Bombardier MLV coaches (built to the same specifications as NJT's cars).  Exo also recently retired some older cars that do not meet the LIRR's specifications (that could theoretically be brought back to loan out cars to LIRR).  But the international nature of this transaction makes it unlikely.
• Metro-North Shoreliner I/II/III/IV and Comet II/V coaches: Who better to look for in a time of need than your sibling system?  Metro-North has a deep coach pool with single-level cars used in both its East and West of Hudson diesel services.  With Metro-North only operating at about 75% of pre-pandemic ridership over the last few months, they would be the best candidate to loan coaches (especially during the summer months when more riders are on vacation).  And they would be easy to transfer between the two systems.  But the optics of the MTA taking cars and seats from Metro-North riders to give to LIRR would look bad, so that may preclude the application of common sense.
• MARC Sumitomo MARC II and Bombardier MARC IV (MLV): The single-level MARC II cars that were being loaned out in the late 2010's are reportedly still in operable condition and would likely be the best candidates for any future lease arrangement (especially since the LIRR is already familiar with them from their visit in 2017).  MARC also has Bombardier MLV cars that are built to similar specifications as NJTransit and Exo and can likely meet LIRR's needs.

The LIRR's diesel fleet is definitely in dire need of reinforcements, and hopefully the railroad is more aggressive in its pursuit of potentail lease options this time around.  While leasing cars are a reasonable short-term fix to a very present and acute problem, it is not a substitute for a real, concrete path forward towards replacement of the current diesel fleet...and as the LIRR continues to struggle to meet its rolling stock needs, there is little sign of hope on the horizon.