New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority awarded French-based Alstom a $2.3 billion contract to manufacture 316 commuter rail cars, officials said Monday.
The rail cars would be for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Railroad, the commuter rail divisions of the MTA. The contract also includes an option for up to 242 additional cars, for a total of up to $1.5 billion. The M-9A passenger vehicles will replace the transit lines’ 40-year-old M-3 cars. The M-9A offers quieter, smoother and more reliable rides, officials said, and offer USB charging ports, space for wheelchairs and accessible restrooms. Two sets of extra-wide doors on each of the cars will ensure passengers can board and disembark quickly.
“With the M-9A project, Alstom looks forward to delivering great commuter trains and good jobs for New Yorkers,” Michael Keroullé, president of Alstom Americas, said. “These new trains not only provide passengers with greater comfort, convenience, and amenities; they will also be made in our New York factories, by New York labor. The investment the MTA makes in these train cars is an investment in local communities throughout the Empire State.”
The contract is expected to create nearly 300 jobs across two production sites in upstate New York. The company said it will assemble the trains in Hornell, manufacturing the car body shell at Plant 4 which was built to “reshore” that activity to the U.S. The undercarriages will be assembled in the company’s Plattsburgh plant, and the propulsion system will be made at Alstom’s West Mifflin, PA plant.
“Advanced manufacturing is a vital Upstate New York industry, and the recent state-of-the-art upgrades at Alstom’s Hornell facility were made possible through strategic investments by the company and New York State,” Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said. “Those investments are paying dividends through the company’s new MTA contract, and these ‘Made in New York’ rail cars will support jobs and regional economic growth while providing safe and reliable transportation.”