NYMTA to Make Largest Ever Investment in Subway Cars

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NYMTA) received a historic $68 billion in funding for its 2025-29 Capital Plan, made available through the FY26 Enacted State Budget. The Capital Plan includes the NYMTA’s largest investment ever in new rolling stock—1,140 subway cars with an option to purchase an additional 1,250 cars—for which the agency is seeking proposals from rail car manufacturers. The 2020-24 Capital Plan, which is supported by congestion pricing revenue, will also provide funding for the purchase.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “New Yorkers are seeing a Golden Age of transit investment. So much of our capital investment goes unseen, but this next subway car order is a major step to visibly delivering the modern transit system New Yorkers deserve.”

The base order would replace 17.3 percent of the agency’s fleet of 6,574 cars; the contract has the potential to replace up to 36.4 percent. The new cars are expected to significantly improve reliability with a higher mean distance between failure, which is a measure of how long a car can operate without issues, repairs, or maintenance. The upgrade would improve customer experience and reduce the amount of time cars are taken out of service.

For companies responding to the request for proposals, the agency has new terms and conditions to streamline its contracts and balance contractor and agency needs. To encourage innovation, manufacturers submitting proposals will be given greater flexibility to propose new ideas. More than 60 percent of the technical specifications will be performance-based, rather than design-driven, and proposers will be asked to submit projections on the total cost of ownership. Proposals are due Sept. 8 and a contract is expected to be awarded by early 2028.

MTA Chief, Rolling Stock Program Jessie Lazarus said, “We’re modernizing our approach to attract as many qualified firms as possible. We’re asking the industry to come with their best ideas—technical and commercial—to meet our performance standards and help the MTA deliver the world class transit experience our customers deserve.”

The investment announcement follows NYMTA’s opening of a Railcar Acceptance and Testing Facility at the end of 2025. The facility that processes and tests new subway cars will help prepare the agency to receive the infusion of new rail cars. New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow remarked that the facility “serves as a symbol to New Yorkers that we’re serious about delivering on the promise of this historic procurement.”