Alstom will perform the work at its Hornell, N.Y. shops.
MBTA's contract calls for Alstom to complete a "selective systems overhaul" in roughly three years.
The move appears to be fiscally separate from MBTA's fiscal 2013-2017 Capital Improvement Plan, approved earlier this year, which includes the procurement of funds for the replacement of both Red Line and Orange Line heavy rail (subway) cars at a cost of $728.7 million.