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Community Corner

Inside the M-8: Riding Metro-North's New Train [Video]

The first trains took on passengers at the Stamford station Tuesday morning.

Update 8:30 p.m.

Boarding an M-8 car Tuesday afternoon was like visiting a car dealership and stepping into this year's new model: the smell of new materials, and floors and seats so clean and bright the everyday New Haven Line commuter — accustomed to 30-year-old equipment — might assume they were sterile.

The train's conductor, Bob Brandt, was jovial, announcing to passengers boarding his train, “You asked for new cars, we got you new cars.”

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The eight-car train debuted for passenger service in Stamford as the 10:30 a.m. to Grand Central Terminal, and returned as the 2:10 local to Stamford, before traveling back to New Haven empty of passengers.

See this week's M-8 schedule below.

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Update 5:54 p.m.:

Metro-North spokesman Marjorie Anders described Tuesday morning's M-8 train ride as "flawless" and gave Patch the train's schedule for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday:

  • The train will depart from New Haven at 6:24 a.m. and arrive at Grand Central Terminal at 8:06 a.m. (It won't be stopping in Darien, but if you commute from Stamford, it's the 7:16 a.m.)
  • Next, it will make an empty trip to Harrison, N.Y. and return to Grand Central again at 9:15 a.m. The train will stay there during the day for the railroad to train engineers and conductors in its use.
  • Finally, it will leave Grand Central at 4:07 p.m. and arrive in New Haven at 5:54 p.m. (passing through Stamford at 4:52 p.m.).

Anders said she's not sure what the train's schedule will be next week but that it would be "put to good use."

The railroad will eventually roll out a minimum of 342 — and possibly 380 — new cars, but only one train of six cars is operating for the moment.

Station Inbound A Inbound B Outbound* New Haven 6:24a - 5:54p Milford 6:35a - 5:38p Stratford 6:40a - 5:32p Bridgeport 6:46a - 5:27p Fairfield 6:53a - 5:19p Southport - - 5:16p Green's Farms - - 5:13p Westport - - 5:09p East Norwalk - - 5:05p South Norwalk 7:05a - 5:02p Stamford 7:16a - 4:52p Greenwich 7:23a - 4:44p Harrison - 8:29a - Mamaroneck - 8:32a - Larchmont - 8:35a - New Rochelle - 8:39a - Pelham - 8:42a - Mount Vernon - 8:45a - Fordham - 8:54a - Harlem-125th St. 7:53a 9:02a 4:17p Grand Central 8:06a 9:15a 4:07p

*Outbound times listed in reverse.

Update 3:10 p.m.:

The six new M-8 cars that entered into service Tuesday morning arrived at Grand Central with no reported hitches.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy hailed the unveiling in a statement, calling it a milestone that underscored his "commitment to investing in public transportation and in Connecticut's economy."

"Our commuters have endured the existing fleet long enough and I thank them for their patience," Malloy said. "I am delighted to see these cars go into service and I commend the DOT, Metro-North and Kawasaki for all they have done to make this happen.”

“This testing took over one year to ensure that the M-8 will provide quality service for its 30 year life," Metro-North President Howard Permut said in a separate statement. "We plan to put more of these cars into service as soon as they complete individual quality assurance testing.”

Original story:

After long delays and commuters' frustration, Metro-North's much-anticipated M-8 cars made their inaugural public run on the New Haven Line Tuesday.

A six-car train left Stamford at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday bound for Grand Central Terminal, where it was scheduled to arrive at 11:46 a.m.

The first M-8s, built by Kawasaki, were delivered to the railroad roughly a year behind schedule in December 2009 and have been in testing since.

The interiors of the cars were designed by Ridgefield's Cesar Vergara.

Patch will have more on this story shortly.

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