Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract for 300 subway cars with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to be delivered to New York City Transit (NYCT). The order is valued at approximately $599 million. The MTA Board of Directors approved the award of a contract to Bombardier on March 28, 2012.

The new cars (known as the R179 series) will be built at Bombardier's fully-integrated manufacturing plant in Plattsburgh, N.Y. The facility is located in New York State's North Country region and is Bombardier's Centre of Excellence for rolling stock production in the U.S. In operation since 1995, it has produced more than 3,000 passenger rail cars and locomotives now in service across the country.

The R179 cars will incorporate state-of-the-art technology from Bombardier. The cars will be powered by highly reliable Bombardier MITRAC propulsion equipment with new, energy-efficient inverters. The cars' onboard systems will be integrated by Bombardier's industry-leading MITRAC train control and management system with internet protocol technology. The propulsion and control equipment will be supplied by Bombardier's Propulsion and Controls business unit in Pittsburgh.

Delivery of 10 pilot cars is scheduled to take place in the third quarter of 2014, followed by delivery of the remaining production series cars between mid-2015 and early 2017.

Around the world, more than seven billion people use Bombardier subway cars every year, from Boston, New York, Montreal, Toronto and Mexico City to London, Paris, Berlin, Delhi and Shanghai, according to the company. Bombardier's current North American orders include 706 new subway cars for Chicago, 468 cars for Montreal, and 420 cars for Toronto.