NJ Transit To Pay Up To $34.8 Million To Overhaul Dual-Powered Locomotives

By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square New Jersey

December 16, 2022

(The Center Square) — NJ Transit will spend up to $34.8 million to overhaul the engines in its dual-powered locomotives, which entered service a decade ago.

NJ Transit’s locomotive fleet includes 35 ALP-45 locomotives, which can operate under electric or diesel power. The locomotives, which entered service beginning in 2012, are equipped with a pair of Caterpillar 3512 HD high-speed diesel engines.

A NJ Transit spokesperson told The Center Square, "the scheduled overhaul is required by the original equipment manufacturer approximately every five years." The work keeps the engines in a “state of good repair” for safety and reliability, and in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations for Tier III engines.

“The overhaul will have the added benefit of improving overall rail service reliability for our customers,” NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett said in an announcement.

NJ Transit plans to contract with Foley-Caterpillar out of Piscataway to overhaul the 70 total engines. While the overhaul won’t exceed roughly $34.8 million, the deal includes a 5% contingency.

NJ Transit’s Capital Programs budget included funding for the engine overhaul, which is required after locomotives log roughly 18,000 hours of operation.

“Keeping our trains in a state of good repair is critically important to realizing the environmental benefits these locomotives offer,” New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner and NJ Transit Board Chair Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said in an announcement.

The NJ Transit board also signed off on purchasing 60 articulated buses from New Flyer of America out of St. Cloud, Minnesota. The nearly $56.8 million deal also includes 5% for contingencies and spare parts for the buses.

The moves come as NJ Transit is seeing its ridership bounce back following the pandemic.

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