NEW YORK - Staten Island Railway riders can look forward to a slightly more posh commuting experience as the fleet of disco-era train cars undergoes a makeover.

Two-thirds of the borough's 63 cars already have been spruced up after being loaded onto flatbed trucks and driven over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to the Coney Island repair facility, which is the largest of its kind in the country.

Gone are the banged-up yellow and orange seats, the dingy beige floors and the leaky ceilings. In their place are freshly sanded seats now painted periwinkle blue, new floor tiles and patches to keep the rain from getting into the cars and onto the seats.

Underneath the cars, new shocks will cut down on the swaying motion of the cars and should make for a smoother ride. New vents were punched through the bottom of the cars to prevent rust.

To stop the leaks, a special fabric seal was applied to the seams of the car roofs, then primed and sealed.

Scratched windows also have been repaired.

Some might say it's worth the extra quarter - the base fare rose yesterday to $2.25.

The trains' face-lift is part of an $11 million project to keep the 1973-vintage cars rolling in good shape for the rest of their useful life of 40 years.