by John Levai/photos by the author
The Arrow III fleet of stainless-steel electric multiple-unit (EMU) rail cars owned by NJTransit has been serving commuters throughout central and western New Jersey for almost 50 years. Built in 1977 and 1978 by General Electric, the cars share the general appearance of their Silverliner IV and Arrow II predecessors, combining fluted sides and roofs, oval windows, doors at the car center and ends, and inboard-bearing trucks. Entering 2026, the Arrow IIIs have maxed out their useful life and replacement Multilevel III equipment is on the way.
GE delivered 30 individual Arrow III cars (numbered 1304-1333) and 200 married pairs (1334-1533) intended to re-equip parts of the agency’s Hoboken Division (most of the Morris & Essex, a small part of the Montclair-Boonton line, and the entire Gladstone Branch). Arrow IIIs also saw service on the Newark Division’s Northeast Corridor service, the North Jersey Coast Line, and the Princeton Branch (also known as the “Dinky”). After 15 years of service, the Arrow III fleet was overhauled in the early 1990s. At that time the cars’ DC motors were replaced with AC technology, increasing their power output but leading to over-heating problems that resulted in top speed being reduced from 100 mph to the current 80 mph.
ABOVE: Arrow III 1316 sits at Princeton Station on April 2, 2017.
Many of the NJTransit lines that are home to Arrow IIIs have closely spaced stations, sometimes less than a mile apart — Morris & Essex (as far west as Dover), Gladstone, and Montclair–Boonton (electrified as far west as Montclair State University Station in Little Falls) — and the “jackrabbit” acceleration of the Arrow IIIs is a great benefit for maintaining schedules. Each Arrow III car has seats for up to 119 passengers in a 3+2 walkover bench arrangement. On the Northeast Corridor, where Amtrak trains as well as NJT ALP-hauled consists are good for 100-plus mph, having an Arrow III train restricted to 80 mph running on the line can slow down locomotive-hauled consists in the over-all traffic mix.
The Arrow III cars’ operating voltage cannot be changed automatically, so the fleet is divided into two pools set up to serve either NJT’s 12kV or 25 kV electrified territories. Triangular orange labels on the car ends indicate which of the two voltages each car is set up for. This limitation is evident with Mid-town Direct services that connect New York Penn Station to stops on the Morris & Essex Line. In addition, Arrow IIIs cannot operate on trains running between Montclair State University Station, located in Little Falls, and NY Penn Station. Instead, Midtown Direct trains are hauled by NJT’s ALP-46, ALP-46A, ALP-45DP, or ALP-45A locomotives.
ABOVE: Arrow III 1319 operates on the Dinky Shuttle between Princeton Junction on the Northeast Corridor (shown here) and Princeton, and is about to lead an afternoon Dinky for the almost three-mile trip to the Borough of Princeton on April 2, 2017.
The Arrow IIIs are able to operate on trains running between Hoboken Terminal and Dover that stay on the Morris & Essex Line. Those trains run on week-days only during the rush hour. From Mondays through Fridays, Arrow IIIs cover many of the Hoboken to Summit turns. Seven days a week, Arrow IIIs typically dominate the trains that run all the way to Gladstone, N.J. The NJT Arrow IIIs cover runs on part of the Montclair–Boonton Line, with varying destinations, depending on the day and week. On weekdays, they have covered Hoboken to Montclair State University trains. On Saturdays and Sundays, when the service only runs between Bay Street (Montclair) and Hoboken Terminal every other hour with a few evening three-hour gaps, Arrow IIIs have covered those runs.
Out of New York Penn Station, the Arrow IIIs often run as far west as Jersey Avenue station in New Brunswick, N.J., on weekdays. Seven days a week, they can also be found running all the way to Trenton, although that has diminished ever since the Multilevel I and II cars began to enter revenue service in 2008. On the North Jersey Coast Line, Arrow IIIs presently can’t go beyond Aberdeen-Matawan station. For many years, there have been weekday-only local trains that operate between New York Penn Station and South Amboy and the Arrows often show up on those runs…
ABOVE: With heritage decals paying tribute to Lackawanna Railroad, NJT Arrow III 1319 was photographed at Montclair State University station on the Montclair-Boonton Line on June 23, 2025.
