Mafersa coaches

Mafersa coaches are railroad cars originally built for Virginia Railway Express. They are currently operated by Connecticut Department of Transportation and QIT-Fer et Titane. 
Description.
The ConnDOT cars operate on Shore Line East and the Hartford Line as part of the CTrail service. Because of their lack of automatic doors, the Shore Line East cars are prohibited from running into Grand Central Terminal. In addition, the undercarriage clearances preclude running at more than in third rail territory as found south and west of Pelham. Hence, ConnDOT does not use them in the Metro-North Railroad equipment pool. The cab cars are numbered 1701–1719 (odd numbers only, with restrooms). The coach cars are numbered 1730-1774 (even numbers only, no restrooms). They are limited to 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) while in service on most trains.
History.
Mafersa built the coaches new for the Virginia Railway Express at $24.7 million. VRE sold 33 of the coaches to the Connecticut Department of Transportation in 2004 for its Shore Line East service. QIT-Fer et Titane, a Quebec mining company, purchased the remaining five cars in 2008.
Routes served.
These coaches are used by CTrail on their Shore Line East and Hartford Line services. They are operated as far west at Stamford and as far East as New London. Kawasaki M8 Railcars are intended to be introduced on Shore Line East on services from Stamford or New Haven to Old Saybrook. The Mafersa Coaches will then run exclusively on the Hartford Line, except for some which will run services to New London.