NJ Transit’s Board of Directors authorized the purchase of an additional 45 multilevel rail cars from Bombardier Transportation.

The fleet of 279 rail cars will enable NJ Transit to meet ridership demand on its busiest rail lines, provide a higher level of comfort for customers and save on the cost of overhauling older rail cars.

To date, Bombardier Transportation has delivered 23 multilevel cars to NJ Transit, with a number of cars going through the commissioning and testing process.

The manufacturer is expected to deliver all 279 cars by mid-2009. By late July, NJ Transit anticipates placing a second multilevel train into service on the Northeast Corridor. NJ Transit reports that increasing the order of cars will give the agency 20 percent more seats to support growing demand.

Customer amenities include more knee room and seat width than older cars, an upper and lower seating level as well as an open, intermediate "mezzanine" level at each end of the car, fully accessible restrooms on more than half of the cars, high-tech automated public address systems and LED destination screens.