New York Gov. Hochul issues RFP for largest rail car order in MTA history
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is now accepting proposals for what the authority says is its largest subway car acquisition in its history. The MTA is seeking a base order of 1,140 subway cars to replace the R62 and R62A fleets that are currently operating on the 1, 3 and 6 lines, and if an option to purchase the additional 1,250 cars is exercised, to replace the R142 and R142A cars on the 2, 4 and 5 lines.
“Thousands of new subway cars running better service and a more reliable ride for millions every day—that’s what we can achieve when we fully invest in transit,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “We are in the midst of a public transit renaissance in New York, with growing ridership, the best service in a generation and historic investments to modernize the lifeblood of our city. By bringing even more open gangway cars to the subway, we can make real improvements to riders’ safety and overall experience.”
In total, the contract would include 2,390 new subway cars if the authority exercised the expanded order option. The new cars, model R262, will be funded via MTA’s 2025-29 Capital Plan, which received $68 billion in funding from in the 2026 enacted state budget. The purchase also includes funds made available through the 2020-2024 Capital Plan, which is supported by congestion pricing revenues.
With a new rolling stock program in place, the MTA says it has approached this contract differently, updating the terms and encouraging innovation by giving manufacturers more flexibility to propose new ideas. More than 60% of the technical specifications are now performance-based, rather than design-driven.
For the first time, the terms request proposers to submit total cost of ownership projections. The authority says these efforts will result in a streamlined contract that adopts a balanced approach between the current challenges that contractors face and ensuring that the authority retains the necessary control to ensure the timely delivery of rail cars.
"Thanks to Governor Hochul, the MTA has a historic $68 billion 2025-2029 Capital Plan, and New Yorkers are seeing a Golden Age of transit investment,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “So much of our capital investment goes unseen, but this next subway car order–our largest ever—is a major step to visibly delivering the modern transit system New Yorkers deserve."
The base order contract would replace 17.3% of the fleet, with nearly 40% being replaced if it goes with the expanded option. The subway’s entire fleet currently consists of 6,574 cars, according to MTA.
The MTA is seeking to significantly improve reliability with the new order, requiring a higher mean distance between failure (MDBF)—a measure of how long a car can operate without issues, repairs or maintenance. The R262 has an MDBF requirement of 200,000 miles, compared to the R62/R62A’s average of 89,000 miles.
The request for proposals (RFP) outlines other technical specifications for efficiency, security, performance and the customer experience. These include:
- Higher quality announcement systems
- Assistive listening devices
- Automatic passenger counting system
- Electric braking control
- Onboard cameras
- Onboard platform edge CCTV
- Electronic cab locks
Proposals are due Sept. 8, 2026, and a contract is expected to be awarded by early 2028.
MTA notes the RFP follows last month’s appointment of Jessie Lazarus to lead a new organization that directs the MTA’s rolling stock strategy and examines acquisition and lifetime costs for the MTA’s assets, including buses, subway cars and commuter rail trains. As chief of the new Rolling Stock Program, Lazarus and her team manage the purchasing of all new subway, bus and railroad cars, including the $12 billion dollar investment from the 2025-29 Capital Plan to replace the MTA’s aging fleets.
"This will be the largest order of new subway cars in MTA history, and we’re modernizing our approach to attract as many qualified firms as possible,” Lazarus said. “We’re asking the industry to come with their best ideas—technical and commercial—to meet our performance standards and help the MTA deliver the world class transit experience our customers deserve."
This announcement also come just months after the MTA opened a new railcar acceptance and testing facility. MTA says that new facility allows it to process new subway cars, work on locomotives and other rolling stock more efficiently and enables cars to enter service more quickly.