Billions of dollars in infrastructure investments being made now on the LIRR could transform how Long Islanders live and commute within the next five years, experts said. From new trains to new stations to new tracks, several big-ticket improvements long debated for the Long Island Rail Road are now approved,…
The next generation of commuter rail cars is coming to the Long Island Rail Road. In 2013, the MTA awarded a $1.83 billion contract to Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc. to design and build the new fleet of M9 rail cars for the LIRR. The new cars will replace the 1980s-era M3 rail cars, featuring larger windows, automated public announcements in car interiors and exteriors, and single leaf doors for improved reliability. Ultimately, the new M9 rail cars will help to expand the LIRR’s fleet capacity and allow for anticipated ridership growth with the completion of East Side Access, the LIRR Expansion Project, and other system expansion projects throughout the region.
The M9 contract has a base order of 92 cars for LIRR and is presently negotiating an option for 110 additional LIRR cars. These cars are intended to replace LIRR’s current fleet of aging M3s (180 cars) and support East Side Access service (22 cars). The M9 cars will be available for East Side Access opening day service. The M9 cars will be assembled in Kawasaki’s plant in Yonkers, helping to create jobs for New Yorkers.
MTA Long Island Rail Road has taken delivery on the first set of M-9 EMU (electric multiple-unit) married-pair commuter railcars from Kawasaki Rail Car USA, following testing at TTCI in Pueblo, Colo. Further testing is now under way at LIRR’s Hillside facility in Jamaica, N.Y. Among numerous stress tests to…
LONG Island Rail Road (LIRR), a subsidiary of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA), has invited companies to prequalify for a tender to design, build, test, and deliver type M-9A passenger coaches for New York’s East Side Access (ESA) project. LIRR requires a minimum of 60 and up to 160…
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a historic $5.6 billion transformation of the Long Island Rail Road to strengthen the region’s transportation infrastructure and usher in a new era of economic growth. After 70 years of stagnation, all 100 transformative LIRR capital projects are moving forward, including the Main Line…
The MTA Board has approved a contract with Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., to design and build the next generation of rail cars for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. The MTA expects up to 676 cars will be assembled at Kawasaki’s plant in Yonkers and anticipates up to…