For the first time since the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority's Metro Rail cars began rolling 20 years ago, the NFTA will begin a complete overhaul of all 27 cars in its system.

The NFTA's Board of Commissioners Monday afternoon unanimously approved a $32.8 million program to rehabilitate and restore all of its Metro Rail cars. The initiative is being funded through federal money and some in the form of a state grant.

Lawrence Meckler, NFTA executive director, said the rehab work on the cars will begin this fall with the authority repairing four cars at a time. No service will be disrupted during the repair period.

Meckler estimated the final car will get its rehab work done in 2010.
"That should give us reliable cars through 2035," Meckler said.

The work comes at a time when Metro Rail ridership is peaking. The rail line handled 5.4 million riders last year and this year, ridership for the first three months of the calendar year was up 290,000 because of a number of factors including rising fuel costs and a marketing outreach program to students at four area colleges.

The rail line, last year, averaged between 18,000 and 19,000 weekly riders. Combined bus and rail ridership for the first four months of the year is up 3.77 percent, going from 7.79 million riders in 2005 to 8.08 million this year.

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