NEW York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to supply up to 2390 cars under what it says will be the largest Subway rolling stock contract ever awarded by the authority.
The tender comprises a base order of 1140 cars to replace the R62 and R62A fleets operating on lines 1, 3, and 6, plus and an option for 1250 more to replace R142 and R142A trains on lines 2, 4 and 5 operated by MTA subsidiary New York City Transit (NYCT).
The NYCT fleet currently comprises 6574 cars. The base order would replace 17.3% of this total, rising to 36.4% if the option is exercised.
Purchase of the new fleet, designated type R262, will be partially funded under MTA’s 2025-2029 capital plan, which includes $US 12bn for what MTA says is largest rolling stock investment programme it has ever undertaken. The new fleet will also be funded through the 2020-2024 MTA capital plan, drawing on revenue from congestion charging.
Proposals are due to be submitted by September 8 and MTA expects to award the contract by early 2028. Under its new approach to fleet procurement, MTA says that it aims to encourage innovation by giving manufacturers greater flexibility to propose new ideas, with over 60% of technical specifications performance-based rather than design-driven.
For the first time, bidders are asked to provide the estimated total cost of ownership. The mean distance between failure (MDBF) for the new R262 fleet is specified at a minimum of 320,000km, compared with an average of 142,400km for the R62 and R62A trains.
The RFP also says that MTA intends to order trains with full-width gangways, which will be the first on the NYCT’s A Division comprising its numbered lines. The precise number has yet to be determined. The new fleet will have an automatic passenger counting system, an electric braking control system with fewer parts, and onboard platform edge CCTV.
Procurement of the new fleet will be managed by Jessie Lazarus, appointed last month to head MTA’s rolling stock programme and to build a new function to manage fleet procurement, including Subway and commuter trains.
Commissiong of the new R262 fleet will be undertaken at MTA’s new Railcar Acceptance and Testing Facility, which was officially opened on November 21 2025. Located near the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park, the new facility is able to receive rolling stock by rail, road or sea and will enable new fleets to enter service more quickly, according to MTA.
“We’re modernising our approach to attract as many qualified firms as possible,” Lazarus says. “We’re asking the industry to come with their best ideas - technical and commercial - to meet our performance standards."
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