MTA Unveils Largest Subway Car Order Ever, Costing Billions
The MTA has started the process of soliciting bids to replace the city’s oldest subway cars, some of which are more than 40 years old. The request for proposals will be revealed in early September although the contracts won’t actually be awarded until early 2028.
| 26 Mar 2026 | 12:31
For the new NYC Subway train order, which will see RFPs available on September 8, the current R211 trains, first operated in 2023, will be looked at for design and service issues that have cropped up in the last three years. (
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Jessie Lazarus, unveiled plans to seek proposals for new subway cars that could end up replacing up to one third of the subway cars currently in the system. The bids for the multi-billion order are due at the end of September, although the MTA won’t award the contract until early 2028. (
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Is your daily ride subway train suffering the indignities of just getting old? Up to one third of the cars currently rolling could be replaced in the next few years under a new plan unveiled by the MTA.
”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,” noted MTA Chief of Rolling Stock Jessie Lazarus. The newly-minted car czar will lead a new area directing strategy and detail for the MTA’s vast fleet of subway trains, commuter railroad cars for Metro-North and the LIRR and buses. She will oversee a $12 billion dollar investment, culled from the 2025-29 Capital Plan to replace the MTA’s aging fleets.
At a briefing held on March 19 at the new Railcar Acceptance and Testing Facility in Sunset Park, NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow posed the rationale for the replacement in terms of a question.
”We’re talking about replacing cars that have been around since the 1980s—is anyone else driving 40 year-old-cars?”
The R62 subway cars that are still rolling, were first delivered in 1983, making them more likely to be considered for inclusion in a transit museum than as a form of modern transport.
Lazarus and Crichow were joined by MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber, revealing that the requests for proposals for the R262 subway car class will be unveiled on Sept. 8. The new cars will replace current subway cars (the R62s) on the 1,3 and 6 lines, and possibly the 2,4 and 5 trains. They are all part of the “A” Division, embracing every numbered train, except the #7 lines, which has newer cars already.
The order will include potentially 2,390 new subway cars, broken down into a firm order for 1,150 cars with an option to buy 1,250 more from the manufacturer. The complete total, if the options are used, constitute more than one third of the over 6,500 NYC Transit cars, totaling more subway cars than the Chicago Transit Authority and the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s fleets combined.
Precise estimates on the multi-billion dollar contract were not available at presstime but officials did reveal funding will be from the MTA’s $68 billon 2025-29 Capital Plan in the FY26 Enacted State Budget, and also includes funds made available through the 2020-2024 Capital Plan, supported by congestion pricing revenues.
Among the tech upgrades that must be included in the new proposals: better PA systems, assistive listening devices for hearing-impaired passengers, to connect to personal devices, like hearing aids. It will contain a determined amount of open gangway cars, which would be a first on the numbered lines. Three quarters of subway transit systems outside of the United States from Toronto to Hong Kong offer open-gangway trains in their fleets.
The R211 trains, currently the newest cars in the subway fleet, run on the A, C and G lines; They will be looked at for design and service issues as a benchmark.
Onboard cameras and platform edge CCTV will help train security, and there will be an electronic lock system to prevent unauthorized cab access, a current operational issue.
”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 noted. The newly-minted car czar will lead a new area directing strategy and detail for the MTA’s vast fleet of subway trains, commuter railroad cars for Metro-North and the LIRR and buses. She will oversee a $12 billion dollar investment, culled from the 2025-29 Capital Plan to replace the MTA’s aging fleets.
Lazarus joined the MTA at the beginning of February. from Toyota’s AI area, as part of the automated mobility industry, a component of the MTA’s strategy moving forward.
Currently, the L train operates almost fully by automation, but an NYC Transit train operator is on board to help with the doors and oversee the actual train operation. Similar to fly-by-wire control on jet aircraft, where the pilot oversees computer decisions, there is a push by the MTA to potentially eliminate subway conductors, embracing this new technology for one-person operation. The TWU, in a proposed May strike date, has brought this up as a grievance.
Governor Kathy Hochul stated. “We are in the midst of a public transit renaissance in New York. By bringing even more open gangway cars to the subway, we can make real improvements to riders’ safety and overall experience.”
Proposals are due Sept. 8, 2026, and a contract is expected to be awarded by early 2028.