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As much as New Jersey Transit Corp. Aug. 24 marked the ending of an era retiring its last 24 Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) subway cars, it also entered a new one Aug. 27, inaugurating 16 light rail vehicles (LRVs) on Newark City Subway.



NJ Transit’s predecessor, Public Service Coordinated Transport, bought 30 PCC cars from Twin Cities Rapid Transit (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.) in 1953; the first of them entered service in New Jersey Jan. 8, 1954. Two cars in November 1977 were sold to Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority, which retired them in the 1980s. Four cars were scrapped for parts and two others were lost in the 1970s when contractors digging foundations for the headquarters of Public Service’s successor, PSE&G, broke through the roof of the Cedar Street tunnel where the cars were parked.



The low-floor LRVs, purchased from Japan-based manufacturer Kinkisharyo for $55 million, are part of an $188 million Newark City Subway rehabilitation, which includes track and signal renovation. The cars can carry up to 68 seated and 120 standing passengers — more than twice the number PCC cars could accommodate — and have improved lighting, a modern heating and air conditioning system, automated and manual public address system on the cars’ interior and exterior, and four doors per side.