The MBTA will launch an effort to renovate 20 out-of-service commuter rail coaches, hoping to use the cars to supplement service and meet demand until brand-new trains currently in production arrive.
Workers will rebuild wheel trucks, improve HVAC systems, overhaul interior lights and do more to the cars, which date back to the early 1990s, according to Rob DiAdamo, executive director of the commuter rail.
DiAdamo told the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday that the project, funded by $33 million from the state’s Safety Investment and Capital Acceleration Plan, could add about seven years of useful life to the cars.
Cars will be split between the MBTA’s Rochester facility and separate Keolis sites, and they will begin phasing into service next year. DiAdamo said that will help boost the total number of seats on the system while the T waits for the 80 bi-level coaches it ordered in September, which are set to arrive between September 2022 and June 2024.
“We know in the interim there’s still going to be demand for additional seating on the commuter rail network with all of the projects going on,” DiAdamo said
