The largest subway car replacement order in MTA history: The 262s

R262 proposal (Photo: MTA)

The MTA just announced their ambitious plan to replace pretty much the entire A-division rail fleet (consisting of the numbered lines and 42 St shuttle) with the futuristic-looking R262 cars. The annoucement came at a press conference Thursday as they announced a RFP for proposals from manufacturers, with submissions due in September.

The base order is 1,140 subway cars, just enough to replace the R62 and R62A fleets (which run on the (1, 3, and 6 lines). Bidding will start on April 30th, 2026 and is expected to continue until 2028, when the contract is expected to be awarded.  The order will contain a mixture of regular "closed-end" R262s and open-gangway R262s (known as "R262OG"). There's also an option for an additional 1,250 cars to replace the R142 and R142A cars (which run on the 2, 4, and, 5 lines) as well, which, would in total, add up to 2,390 cars, effectively replacing the entire A-division mainline fleet, except for the (7) and 42 St shuttle, and it's currently unclear what will replace the shuttle's cars. The cars will come in 5 car sets.

The annoucement for the option order probably comes as a shock to many (including myself) what time we thought we had with the R142 and R142a cars (which are some of the most beloved cars in the system) has now become limited. Many have questioned why the R142/A's are being replaced so early, and the reason why is simply due to the cost. It would be ridiculously expensive to convert all the R142s and R142As to CBTC when brand new cars are coming, and when you think about it, at the speed it takes the MTA to do things, by the time the order for the R262s is ready, it'll already be time to begin replacing the R142/As anyway, so it makes much more sense to tag them on as well, as sad as it is for the R142/A fans.

I'd also like to point out that the R142 and R142A cars really aren't going anywhere anytime soon as the first option cars likely won't come until WELL into the late 2030s at the earliest, and full delivery won't finish until the early to mid 2040s, therefore we have very good time left with them. 

R262 proposal (Photo: MTA)

Once the delivery process begins, The MTA is expected to receive an impressive 30 new train cars every month, as part of the giant Capital Program secured by $68 billion in funds.

This order is monumental for New York. To sum up just how large the order is, if the MTA exercises all the options, then there will be enough cars to completely replace a 3rd of the subway's entire fleet, and to put it into perspective like Janno Lieber put it, "it's more cars than all the cars in Chicago Transit Authority and Boston MBTA combined." It's a huge order, one that will define how the subway looks for decades to come. But it's also not a bad thing; standardization makes everything easier, and having one car type is much easier for maintenance related purposes, however, should an issue arise with the cars, it becomes much more cumbersome to deal with that.

Officials said that the new subway cars will feature high quality electric couplers to support improved improved audio, listening devices, hearing aids, and digital signage. The cars are expected to begin rolling out in the early 2030s, with full delivery and deployment not finishing until mid-to-late 2030s. They will also feature modern signage and will be equipped with CBTC, allowing for full CBTC installation on the Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue Lines.

In conclusion, this order is the future of NYC transit. This giant proposal will completely change the the NYC subway system forever and will open the door to various improvements most notably being CBTC, something that will greatly improve service and reliability. What we are seeing now are the cars that will head the subway for the next 40 or so years. Once this order is laid to rest, the system won't look at anything like it does today. All remaining SMEEs will be retired, with only a small handful remaining in garbage and work duty, and the R142 and R142A cars will join them on a farm somewhere upstate with the all the other retired trains to frolic and play together for eternity.