If riders on NJ Transit's Newark and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail lines have found more seats on their trains, it's not due to having a lucky commuting day.

One of the long-standing complaints of light rail riders, lack of a place to sit, is being alleviated as longer five-car trains with a new extended car are starting to enter service.

The extended car is being added to the center of 10 Newark Light Rail-City Subway trains and 25 Hudson-Bergen Light Rail trains as part of a $54 million project, with 80 percent of that coming from the federal clean air and congestion management funds.

NJ Transit Executive Director Steven Santoro rode one of the trains and toured the Newark Light Rail-City Subway maintenance shop on Thursday to thank workers who've been assembling trains with the extended sections. The extended sections increase seating capacity by 50 percent, from 68 seats to 102 seats, he said.

"As we add capacity, there are less complaints," he said. "We're not adding trains or operators, just (seating) capacity."

Three of the extended trains are now running on Hudson-Bergen Light Rail on weekends and four are in service on Newark Light Rail, said Neal Fitzsimmons, NJ Transit senior director of service planning and communications.

Workers at the Newark Light Rail maintenance shop have finished five extended trains, he said. They were putting the finishing touches on a sixth train in the shop on Thursday.

Newark Light Rail, also known as the city subway is the only one of NJ Transit's three light rail lines operated by the agency, About 5.7 million people ride Newark Light rail and the city subway annually.

NJ Transit's board approved the $1.5 million cost per car in July 2014 because it was about one-third of the cost of purchasing new light rail vehicles.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.