NJ Transit's retired railcars just the ticket for its peers

TRENTON - They're cramped, with about 40 years of wear and tear.

But suddenly the 104 Comet 1 railcars that NJ Transit is retiring seem like a pretty good deal to SEPTA and other transit agencies trying to meet higher demand from commuters amid rising gas prices.

"

Tired

is probably the best word to use to describe them, and that might be generous," NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel told the Star-Ledger of Newark.

SEPTA is leasing eight Comet 1 cars for two years at an annual cost of $15,000 each.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Montreal is paying about the same for at least 14 of the cars.

Officials from Metrolink in Southern California are expected to visit New Jersey in the coming week to negotiate a leasing agreement.

The Utah Transit Authority has bought 25 of the cars for $35,000 each and plans to refurbish them, spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware said.

NJ Transit phased out the cars after buying 279 multilevel cars from Bombardier Transportation. The new cars can carry 20 percent more passengers than the old single-level cars.