The first working was the 06.50 from Huntington to New York Penn Station, which was formed of eight M9 cars. LIRR will extend the train to 10 cars on Friday and 12 cars on September 20.
New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) awarded Kawasaki Heavy Industries a contract in September 2013 to supply a base order of 92 M9 cars worth $US 355m, with options for up to 584 additional vehicles.
At the time of the order MTA anticipated a requirement for 416 M9 cars for LIRR, including 180 vehicles to replace the fleet of M3 trains and 236 vehicles to expand the fleet for additional services which will be introduced when the East Side Access (ESA) project is completed. A further 188 cars would be ordered for Metro North services.
However, in 2017 LIRR opted to launch a new procurement for M9A cars for ESA using funding from the Federal Transit Administration.
Initially due for delivery between 2016 and 2020, production delays pushed back the introduction of the M9s. MTA now expects the 202 vehicles on order to be in passenger service by March 2021.
The M9s are equipped with Positive Train Control (PTC), in-cab and forward-facing cameras, and CCTV in the passenger saloons. The trains also feature an advanced passenger information system and at-seat power sockets. Seats are wider than those on the preceding M7 cars, with up to six additional seats in each married pair of vehicles.
The M9 cars are being designed and assembled by Kawasaki Rail Car at its facility in Yonkers, New York. The first 14 pre-series vehicles were built in Japan and eight cars were tested at the TTCI test track at Pueblo, Colorado, before delivery to LIRR. The remaining 188 vehicles will be manufactured at Kawasaki’s plant in Lincoln, Nebraska, with final assembly taking place at Yonkers.
