On the evening of September 23rd, 2024, Metro-North/ CDOT Kawasaki M8 railcar pair 9137/9136, modified with LIRR-style third rail equipment (sans shoes), sits on Track 6 at New Haven Union Station awaiting interchange to Amtrak. The pair was towed from New Haven, Connecticut to Arch Street Shops in Long Island City, New York to be used in a brief third rail test by LIRR/Amtrak in anticipation of future Metro-North service between New Rochelle and New York Penn Station. Pictured is a close up of the equipment fitted onto the F End truck of 9137.

Kawasaki M8 railcars are unable to utilize the 12.5kv 25hz catenary used on the Northeast Corridor from the GATE Interlocking (located just east/north of Harold Interlocking and west/south of the Hell Gate Bridge) to Washington Union Station. They are, however able to run on BOTH MNR (underrunning) and LIRR (overrunning) third rail using dual sided collector shoes and a spring mechanism that automatically adjusts for both heights. This was successfully tested back in 2016 with M8 pair 9160/61 at LIRR's Hillside Facility in Queens, NY. A second test was performed in February 2023, which determined that improvements to the existing mechanism needed to be made. Once "perfected", MTA and Amtrak Empire Corridor Charger locomotives will be equipped with the same technology in the future. The train pictured was towed by an Amtrak locomotive because LIRR's third rail has yet to be extended a little over a mile between Harold Interlocking and GATE Interlocking to bridge the existing "power gap". Once this is done (and properly tested), M8s will be able to run on their own for Penn Station Access service.