The (Eventual) Last Call for the Cosmopolitans

Metro-North, as a railroad, has done exactly what it was supposed to do: bring reliable, frequent, comfortable service to Hudson Valley and Connecticut residents.

What it hasn't done: done it in a flamboyant manner. Sure, we have, nice, comfortable, reliable trains, but they have not much character. The things that do have character are the passengers who ride them (hipsters need not apply, for the most part). If Metro-North were to expand its network, that'd be cool, but right now MNRR is like a grad student with no direction: and direction is something it needs. Add stations where there are none, not infill stations. Bring service to Northern Dutchess, if not Albany. Restore the Upper Harlem to Chatham, where there's not even bus service to NYC. (Where there's room, have the rail trail).

The M2/M4/M6 railcars, less known by their nicknames, the Cosmopolitans, were built between the early 1970s and early/mid 1990s. The design had some drawbacks, most of them noticeable during the dead of winter. The weird thing? They don't seem forty years old to me.

But for the love of something, please keep the bar cars! It's a shame that the LIRR and most of Metro-North has gotten rid of them, because they're a great way to unwind, and a novelty, a tradition. In fact, if Amtrak wanted to restore food service between NY and Albany, I'd say introduce a snack car in the style of a bar car: snacks and beverages, nothing more. But if CDOT (Connecticut DOT) and Metro-North are not going to replace the bar cars as a way to make the trains sober, I can understand. YouTube is loaded with drunk NYC metro area commuters displaying mediocre behavior. And why does a bar car cost $80 million?

But then again, although I don't drink, I do want to see the drinking age lowered. Let's also teach youth that you don't need to drink to be cool. And as for the old rail cars? How about this idea? Throw the Cosmopolitans a really cool retirement party. A last call, like at a bar, both as a goodbye but recognizing the moving pubs.