New Jersey Transit is stepping up its efforts in replacing windows on all of its trains. The company now expects to have replacements made to all trains in its fleet by 2028.
All trains in NJ Transit's fleet is set to get new windows and, recently, officials for the mass transit provider said that it is speeding up efforts to get the initiative done.
On Wednesday, NJ Transit president and CEO, Kris Kolluri said, in a statement, that they plan to refit all of its multilevel train cars with new windows -- more than 13,000 windows -- by spring of 2028.
“When I was appointed to this position, I promised that I would look at NJT’s operations in a holistic manner, with a specific focus on service reliability, infrastructure improvements, and customer experience,” said Kolluri in a statement. “Last week, Governor Murphy announced a plan to modernize the entire rolling stock, as of last week Portal Bridge – a critical part of our infrastructure is almost 80% constructed, and today we are announcing a plan to replace windows on our multilevels – an important customer experience improvement.”
Kolluri said the effort hopes to complete installation on one third of NJ Transit's fleet a year over the course of three years. The installations are already underway, officials said.
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“NJ TRANSIT understands how the cloudy train windows on our multilevel rail cars impacts our customers’ travel experience,” Kolluri added. “Accelerating the timeline for these window replacements reflects NJ TRANSIT’s commitment to continually find ways to improve the customer experience along every aspect of the journey.”
In a statement, officials with NJ Transit said that, over time, exposure to elements -- including acid rain, heat and UV rays -- has "damaged the polycarbonate window coating, causing the cloudy appearance."
Through a partnership with Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation, officials said NJ TRANSIT evaluated the current condition of the multilevel rail car windows to determine if the damage could be reversed.
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It was determined that refurbishing the windows wasn’t a viable option, so the decision was made to replace them, officials said in a statement.
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