Metro-North Railroad will overhaul portions of its aging stock of railcars with state-of-the art models equipped with phone charging ports and automatic bathroom doors beginning in 2030.
The first installment of 156 railcars will go in service on the Hudson and Harlem lines. The sleek M-9A cars will replace decades-old M3 models, as the commuter rail begins modernizing its fleet of rolling stock.
The finance committee for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority authorized the purchase from Alstom Transportation on Monday, June 23.
Over time, the MTA plans to buy some 2,000 rail cars for Metro-North and its sister commuter rail, the Long Island Rail Road, with roughly $11 billion from its $68.4 billion capital plan. Metro-North’s first delivery will be covered by $1.7 billion out of the $6 billion allocated to the commuter rail in the MTA’s five-year plan.
“The commuter rails are a lifeline for riders in one of the world’s largest and busiest transit systems — this is how we continue to achieve record on-time performance,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
When will Metro-North’s new railcars arrive?
The first of the new cars will be delivered in 2029 as part of a pilot program, with all cars in service by 2032. Long Island Rail Road will receive 160 cars. They’ll be outfitted with glass windows and accessibility upgrades.
The MTA purchases roughly half the railcars used in the United States.
A report issued in January by The Partnership for New York City estimated the MTA’s capital plan will generate $106 billion in economic activity across the state and more than 70,000 jobs — 18,000 of them outside New York City.
Also tucked into the capital plan are climate-related upgrades along a 20-mile stretch of the Hudson Line between Croton Harmon and Spuyten Duyvil that was knocked out of service by flooding when the remains of Hurricane Ida swept through the region in 2021.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Metro-North Railroad is getting modern railcars. Take a sneak peek
Reporting by Thomas C. Zambito, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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