New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is seeking proposals from railcar manufacturers to build 252 new single-level passenger coaches for the Metro-North Railroad.

The competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) includes an option to purchase an additional 377 cars, reserved for future expansions of the Metro-North service area. 

New Metro-North Railcars

The base order would replace coaches from the 1980s and 1990s that run on the Hudson and Harlem lines and represent 23% of Metro-North’s active passenger fleet. This is the MTA’s first new Metro-North rolling stock coach purchase in decades. 

“It’s time to upgrade the Metro-North passenger experience, with more modern, more reliable railcars,” said MTA Chair/CEO Janno Lieber. “And this RFP is designed to get manufacturers and suppliers to think outside the box so they can deliver faster, better, and cheaper than in the past.”  

 The new passenger railcars are being funded by the MTA’s 2025-29 Capital Plan, which received $68 billion in funding from Governor Hochul and the State Legislature in the FY26 Enacted State Budget.

The Capital Plan features a $12 billion investment in new rolling stock across the MTA system and includes $6 billion earmarked specifically for Metro-North to upgrade passenger railcars and infrastructure. 

The MTA’s RFP

The RFP is part of the MTA’s new Rolling Stock Program, which directs the MTA’s rolling stock strategy and ensures dedicated attention to the acquisition and lifetime costs for the agency’s most strategic assets, including buses, subway cars, and commuter rail trains.

The contract gives manufacturers room to innovate within the parameters of accepted design practices while delivering the best value for riders' tax dollars. There are three types of cabs in this order: cab cars with toilets, cab cars without toilets, and trailer cars with toilets. Each seat can accommodate approximately 100 riders, according to the agency.  

The RFP outlines technical specifications that are designed to enhance reliability, accessibility, service, security, performance, and the overall customer experience, said the MTA. This includes two ADA-designated wheelchair areas per train car, ADA-compliant toilet access, higher-quality announcement systems featuring an audio inductive loop for deaf people, high-resolution digital information screens, passenger Wi-Fi, device charging outlets, bike and luggage racks, and enhanced safety measures, including onboard security cameras.

The new cars are also compatible with Metro-North locomotives and are designed to operate throughout the current and future Metro-North service territory.

The new coaches will also improve reliability by achieving a higher mean distance between failures (MDBF) — a measure of how long a car can operate without issues, repairs, or maintenance. 

Current cars have an average MDBF rate of 430,000 miles, compared to the new coaches, which will have an MDBF rate of 570,000 miles. This translates to a faster, smoother ride for more than 250,000 daily Metro-North customers.

Proposals will be accepted through October 2026. The contract will be awarded in early 2027, with new passenger cars anticipated to enter service in 2029.