NJ Transit starts replacing its 1970s-era Arrow fleet

NJ Transit fleet replacement has reached the Meadowlands maintenance complex. A new group of railcars has arrived there to help replace 1970s-era equipment. Ideally, that will begin improving reliability for commuters.

A total of 40 new Alstom railcars are expected at the facility for testing before the end of the year. That timeline was reported by Railway Supply. The first cars are scheduled to enter passenger service in late summer or fall.

At the event, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said, “We know how important commuting is here in New Jersey. We know that it’s not just a huge economic issue, it is also a huge quality-of-life issue,”

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Sherrill wore a fuchsia-colored suit for the event. It matched one of NJ Transit’s three brand colors. Those colors were displayed on one of the shiny new multilevel railcars behind her as she spoke. She added, “I’m not doing a 10-year study on transit; I’m not going to write a strongly worded letter about how poorly it’s going — I’m going to deliver results,”

NJ Transit fleet replacement begins at Meadowlands

This initial order of 40 cars was made in December 2018 under then-Gov. Phil Murphy. Delivery was later pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain problems, according to NJ TRANSIT’s 2022 annual report.

NJ Transit recorded 1,665 canceled train trips in 2025 because of broken-down trains. That made it the worst year of cancellations due to mechanical failures since 2017, according to NorthJersey.com. The incoming cars are meant to replace the agency’s Arrow fleet, which dates to the 1970s.

State aid, capital spending and more railcars

Sherrill did not initiate this first order. Still, she has instructed NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri to have purchase orders in place by 2031. Those orders would replace the full rail and bus fleets. NJ Transit operates more than 1,200 passenger railcars. Each replacement railcar costs about $5 million.

Her proposed budget for the next fiscal year would raise state aid for NJ Transit to $1.67 billion. That fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. In addition, the proposal would add $230 million over the current fiscal year. It would also lift the capital budget to $782 million from $767 million.

Kolluri said those funds would be important for repairs, upgrades and ongoing maintenance aimed at improving reliability for customers. He said, “It is, as I said, very hard to get to reliable service, when most of your equipment was made in the 1970s and ’80s,” Kolluri said. “Never in its 47-year history has NJ Transit ever endeavored to modernize the entire fleet of rolling stock.”

Meanwhile, 334 more railcars will follow after these first 40 arrive. They will be purchased on a regular schedule.

Rider perks, power cars and pantographs

For passengers, the new railcars will bring several visible changes. Several of those features were outlined in NJ TRANSIT’s 2020 annual report:

• USB-C and USB-A charging ports at every seat
• overhead LED lights that can dim
• bike racks
• security cameras
• people counters that do not capture faces

At the same time, less visible operating changes are intended to keep trainsets running when individual parts fail. NJ Transit’s current rail fleets depend on a locomotive that does not carry passengers but pulls the passenger cars. When one locomotive fails, the whole trainset breaks down.

The new trainsets will instead be made up of three types of passenger cars: cab cars at each end, where the locomotive engineer will sit, multilevel trailers and power cars. Every third vehicle will be a power car. It will do the work of the locomotive and distribute power throughout the train. If one power car stops working, the train can still keep running as long as the remaining power cars continue to operate.

These cars also include built-in redundancies intended to help trainsets stay in service when individual parts fail.

For example, customers likely remember the pantograph problems in 2024. Amtrak’s outdated, droopy wires got tangled in NJ Transit’s pantographs, which sit atop the car, touch the overhead wire, and distribute power to the train. Under the new setup, if a pantograph fails, the train can continue operating by relying on the other pantographs on the other power cars.

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