Not like we didn’t see this coming, but its here.

Jim Cameron of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council reports on his blog, Talking Transportation, that the long overdue new M8 railcar equipment for Metro-North’s New Haven Line will not be delivered on schedule.

To add insult to injury, it looks like Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell is going to break her promise not to raise fares until passengers get their new equipment.

Cameron quotes Rell from 2005:

(commuters) “should not be asked to pay for improvements until they actually see them, sit in them or park in them.”

But Cameron predicts that with the delays, fare hikes will be in effect for 3-5 months prior to any passengers using the new cars.

Read the full story at Talking Transportation before I digress into my familiar rant about the New Haven Line.

As I have reiterated many times, the main reason I started this blog is because when I first rode the New Haven Line, I was appalled at the condition of the equipment serving the ‘Greatest City In The World’.

I have ridden commuter rail in cities in the US and Europe 14 years ago which make today’s New Haven Line cars seem third-worldly.

Dirty cars.
Lack of seating due to lack of working cars.
Smelly restroom cars with no vacuum toilets.
No overhead LED signs for schedule information – neither in the cars nor on most station platforms.
Ancient HVAC systems resulting in frequently overheated and overcooled cars.

Nothing in that list is anything a commuter to NYC should feel ashamed to expect in their commuter rail system. It’s fundamental public transportation service lesser cities take for granted – but this is NYC, not only should we not be trailing so badly, we should be the leading edge.

Most of these complaints will be addressed when the new cars are in service, but Cameron says that’s not going to be until next summer at the earliest, and even then, the cars will be slowly integrated into the existing fleet through 2012!