Shoreliner
| Industry | Rail transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1983 |
| Products | Passenger railcars |
| Owner | Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) |
Shoreliners are passenger railcars pulled by locomotives and operated by the Metro-North Railroad, bearing resemblance to the Comet series used by New Jersey Transit. These vehicles are jointly owned through a partnership between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) as part of their operational agreement. The MTA units are distinguished by blue window stripes, whereas CTDOT’s fleet displays red bands. Numerous cars carry names honoring prominent regional personalities and landmarks, such as The Connecticut Yankee and Washington Irving.
These railcars primarily serve routes without electrification, including the upper segments of the Hudson Line beyond Croton-Harmon, the upper stretches of the Harlem Line past Southeast, as well as the New Haven Line’s Danbury and Waterbury branches. They generally operate in a push-pull arrangement. A number of Shoreliners were temporarily deployed on Shore Line East services during the early 1990s before being supplanted by other rolling stock.
Models
The Shoreliner I and II series, manufactured in 1983 and 1987 respectively, were modeled after New Jersey Transit’s Comet II design. These cars feature vestibule doors at each end but lack a central door. The Shoreliner I batch consists of 39 units, while 36 were produced for Shoreliner II. Within these, cars numbered in the 6200 series belong to Connecticut DOT, including 14 cab cars and 26 coaches; the remainder fall under MTA ownership. Initially, four Shoreliner I units were equipped with underfloor head-end power (HEP) generators to operate behind CTDOT’s refurbished freight locomotives that did not have HEP capability; however, these generators were removed when GP40-2H passenger locomotives replaced those freight units.
The Shoreliner III fleet, built in 1991 with 49 cars, takes its design cues from NJ Transit’s Comet III model and introduces a center door along with repositioned restrooms compared to earlier versions. The Shoreliner IV closely resembles this design but eliminates the engineer’s side door to enhance safety measures. Based on the Comet IV platform, these vehicles were delivered in two batches: fifty cars between 1996 and 1997, followed by ten additional units for Connecticut DOT in 1998.
Future
In August 2023, CTDOT awarded a contract to Alstom for 60 single-level Adessia passenger cars intended to replace current Shoreliner coaches on the Waterbury and Danbury Branches, as well as Mafersa and leased MBTA MBB coaches operating on the Hartford Line. These new cars are scheduled for delivery starting in 2026. Metro-North also plans to begin phasing out Shoreliners on other east-of-Hudson routes by 2029.
See also
- Horizon (railcar) – Amtrak-operated railcars featuring designs comparable to those of the Comet and Shoreliner series.