Could the Beloved Bar Car Return to Connecticut Trains?

Drinking on trains. Is it from a bygone era?

In a story from the New York Times, on May 9, 2014, the legendary Bar Car on Metro-North was no more. Whether you were a fan or not, the Bar Car was the stuff legend is made of. Lets face it, people drink before they get on, people drink at train stations -- Metro-North even has drink carts on the platforms at Grand Central Station -- some people even carry a flask or nip on board. But back in the day, you went for a drink and conversation on the train in the bar car.

Since then, however, DWI/DUI laws have changed significantly, people work longer hours, and society, as a whole, has changed. Plus, as ridership continued to grow, the need for more seats on trains grew too. That bar car took up valuable space. Bar cars faded into history on the Metro-North New Haven Line in 2014, when the last dedicated bar car was taken out of service as Connecticut rolled out its fleet of newly purchased M-8 rail cars.

Now, according to CTPost.com, the bar car could be making its return to the Metro-North New Haven Line. Governor Malloy is expected to announce within the next week or so that the state is purchasing 60 new M-8 rail cars, including ten bar cars. Now, we wait to see if the cost of retro-fitting a bar car, and the cost of cocktails on the train will make or break the deal.