In MTA capital plan, M-9s for Metro-North

Prospects for Metro-North appear good for the railroad to acquire M-9 electric multiple-unit (EMU) equipment under parent Metropolitan Transportation Authority's upcoming five-year capital plan.

Although MTA has identified only about $16.9 billion of the $32 billion identified in the 2015-2019 capital program, Metro-North’s equipment purchase appears to have some funding priority. The M-9s, among other things, would aid Metro-North’s plans to establish a route linking its New Haven Line with Penn Station-New York, serving several new stations in the Bronx.

M-9 cars would also operate on Metro-North’s existing three East-of-Hudson lines, including the New Haven, the Harlem, and the Hudson, all operating to and from Grand Central Terminal.

Metro-North’s $2.6 billion request in the MTA budget includes $532 million to replace trains. The M-9s would replace 140 M-3 cars from the mid-1980s. Metro-North continues to receive the last of its M-8 equipment (shown in photo above), which should be completed by year’s end.

Metro-North’s “wish list” also includes $465 million for a new shop at the Croton-Harmon Yard.

“The MTA Capital Program is our single most important effort to ensure we can keep the New York metropolitan region moving, so people can get where they need to go, businesses can thrive and the quality of life here can continue to improve,” said MTA Chief Executive Thomas Prendergast in a statement.