Front lights on PATH cars

I've been riding PATH for years, but the last few times I've noticed the route marker lights in the front of the cars. I know they used to use these (the different color lights indicate the route the train is on similar to the orange line on SEPTA showing the type of train coming), but I have noticed them several times this week and last week when I had not noticed them ever before.

Have they always been on in the past few years?

I ride the path every day. Every time I see they have the font colored lights. It's not as noticable at a station such as hoboken or 33rd street.. you really notice them at a station such as 23rd street or 14th street where the train is 'passing through'. I know I always look for the color when heading home. The answer to your question is yes, they still use the colored lighting system everyday. Let's see.. Blue is Hoboken to 33rd. Green is Hoboken to WTC. Yellow is Journal Square to 33rd. Red is Newark to WTC.

Those are marker lights. They used to have them on the NY Subway until 2003.