From an Erie Lackawanna experiment to the workhorse of the Northeast Corridor, the Comet fleet has carried New Jersey commuters through five distinct generations.
Few pieces of rolling stock are as woven into the daily life of New Jersey commuters as the Comet passenger car. Named for the Blue Comet, the storied Jersey Central Railroad train that once ran to Atlantic City, the Comet series has quietly formed the backbone of NJ Transit’s diesel- and dual-mode-hauled operations since the line’s earliest days.
Origins with Pullman-Standard
The story begins in the early 1970s, when Pullman-Standard built the first Comet I cars for the New Jersey Department of Transportation, intended for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad’s commuter services. These 155 cars stood out for their all-aluminum construction and head-end power system, a departure from older steam-heated equipment. Their automatic doors, built for low-platform boarding only, earned them the affectionate nickname “Sliders” among crews and riders alike.
Refinement Through the Comet II and III
As NJ Transit consolidated commuter operations in the 1980s, the fleet grew through the Comet II (1982-83) and a second order of Comet IIBs (1987-89), followed by the Comet III (1991). Each generation refined the formula: taller doors for high- and low-platform boarding, one-piece FRA-compliant safety glass in place of split window glazing, added center doors for faster boarding, and relocated restrooms. Sister fleets built on the same design, including SEPTA’s JWC-II cars and Connecticut’s Shoreliner cars, spread the Comet’s DNA well beyond New Jersey’s borders.
The Comet IIM: A Fleet Reborn
Rather than retire its aging Comet II and IIB cars, NJ Transit had them extensively rebuilt between 1999 and 2003 by AAI Corporation and Alstom, creating the Comet IIM. As part of the rebuild, all Comet II/IIB cab cars were converted to trailers, and the resulting fleet was made electrically and mechanically compatible with the newer Comet IV, Comet V, and MultiLevel equipment, allowing older and newer cars to be mixed within the same train consist.
The Comet IV and the Push Toward Modernization
Bombardier began building the Comet IV in 1996, delivering 47 coaches and 21 cab cars. This generation continued the trend of safety-driven design changes, notably removing the engineer-side door on cab cars. The Comet IV remains a familiar sight today on lines such as the Northeast Corridor and the North Jersey Coast Line, often running alongside its successor.
The Comet V and the Modern Fleet
The most recent chapter arrived with the Comet V, built by Alstom and entering service in April 2002. A notable break from its predecessors, the Comet V is constructed of stainless steel rather than an aluminum superstructure on a steel underframe, and 265 cars were built in total. It remains the standard car for NJ Transit’s diesel and electric push-pull trains today, including a fleet shared with Metro-North Railroad on the Port Jervis Line.
A Fleet Still at Work
More than fifty years after the first Comet rolled out of Pullman-Standard’s shops, examples of the design, in original, rebuilt, and all-new form, remain in daily revenue service across the region. For railfans, the Comet lineage offers a compact case study in how a single mid-century idea, locomotive-hauled, high-capacity, low-maintenance commuter equipment, can be stretched, rebuilt, and reborn across five generations without ever losing its name.
Sources: Wikipedia (Comet railcar, Comet V), Rapido Trains Comet Car Masterclass, Railroad Wiki (NJT Comet IIM), CPTDB Wiki.
Comet Cars Now Available for Trainz Railroad Simulator!
The Comet IV, V, and IIM are now available for Trainz Railroad Simulator thanks to Cometcrush and Flamerailzzz
Get them here:
TANE Comet V: Download
Trainz 2019/22 Comet V: Download
TANE Comet IV: Download
Trainz 19/22 Comet IV: Download
TANE Comet IIM: Download
Trainz 19/22 Comet IIM: Download
