Alstom Officially Awarded $2.3 Billion Contract for M9A Cars

After years of waiting, the contract for the M9A cars has finally been awarded. The annoucement came on Monday, June 23rd at the MTA's Board Meeting, where they voted on it. The base order consisted of 316 railcars, 160 for the LIRR, and 156 for Metro-North, and the contract also includes options for up to a impressive additional 242 cars, (180 for LIRR and 62 for MNR) to support future ridership growth. 

The M9As will finally replace the M3 fleet, which if I remember correctly, were supposed to be fully replaced by the M9s. On the Long Island Railroad, they'll also provide additional capacity, and as the M3s can't go into Grand Central, giving the railroad even more flexibility (maybe this will make them be more willing to at least divert service to Grand Central since they're not willing to do it to the more then capable Hunterspoint Avenue).

Concept rendering of the M9A

To me, this concept almost reminds me of something that would be made by AI, but nonetheless, it's a very futuristic-looking concept. The blue front is definitely something that'll take some time to get used to, but these are pretty sleek looking cars.

Is it just me or are the M9As the train-version of Kathy Hochul?

And while little is known still about the M9A's actual design apart from those concept renderings, we can expect these features: glass windows less prone to sun damage, push button doors on the bathrooms, and USB ports in every row. 

The Long Island Rail Road expects to have M9As ready for testing by 2029, with them scheduled to enter actual revenue service on both railroads in 2030, and be completed by 2032 (hopefully Alstom won't screw up like my beloved Kawasaki did!) It's crazy to me that the next generation of railcars will be out the year I graduate highschool! 

The LIRR sent concept interior photos just an hour or so after I finished this post, so I better add them in. The design, which I can probably guess the prompt in Veo 3, is very similar to the M7. This was the first thing I noticed when I saw these images. While I expected some similarity, considering this is being made by the same company who made the M7s (Bombardier and Alstom merged), it was a bit startling just how similar these cars look. While I expect this will change from an AI prompt concept to an actual change, the inside is basically just an M7 with the display boards changed to look more modern in addition to a couple of other changes. 

In all, the future for LIRR rolling stock is quite positive- we weren't even supposed to get a second  as if the Chargers don't get delayed they should be rolling in on the rails in 2027, followed by these in 2030. Not to mention the While it's sad to see the M3s so close to retirement, customers hate them and it probably has some minor part to do with the LIRR's lower satisfaction rates considering how torn up they are, and at this point they were supposed to be long gone. 

Now the question to be asked is, what will the propulsion sound like?

'Middleseatphobia'

There it is… the little seat that couldn’t. The dreaded middle seat. Walk down just about every single train, rush hour or not, tons of standees, or no standees, and you’ll see just about every seat but the middle seat filled.

Photo: MTA LIRR

If your most people, like me, you’ll have no problem sitting in the end seat (not that the window seat isn’t much better, but also not that it matters since you can’t see out the window!), but if asked to stand or sit in the middle seat, most people will choose to stand. If you sit in this dreaded seat, your squished in between two other people, have no armrests, and if one of the people next to you is smelly, loud, et cetera, then it could mean a hell of a ride for you.

On the LIRR & MNR, the middle seat is only on the MU equipment (M7s, M8s, M9s), as it’s a 3-2 seating arrangement,  and on the Shoreliners and C3 equipment, the bodies are narrower so they can only fit four seats per row. 

The main reason for these seats is because of ADA requirements. Because of all the ADA required things for accessible riders, which is a very good thing, but also means that they have a significant reduction in seating capacity meaning they had to include the middle seat.

An almost (or more) uncomfortable seat is the facing seats, for the reason of it being impractical to have all seats per car facing the same way as some prefer to sit one way versus the other, and therefore they have to meet somewhere in the middle of the car. However, these seats are annoying because their very cramped and the legroom is abysmal.

Photo: The LIRR Today

What makes this whole “Middle seat” situation even worse is when the LIRR calculates ridership numbers, and more importantly, standee numbers, they calculate loading percentages, assuming that every seat (including the middle seat is filled). So for the vast majority of the LIRR & MNR’s rush hour trains, the standee counts are all screwed up and because of this, the LIRR thinks it’s fine to run less then 12 cars on those trains and everyone will allegedly have a seat.

But the truth is, walk down any rush-hour train, and chances are, only a couple of middle-seats in an entire 12 car consist will actually be filled. I think to help fix this issue, the LIRR should only factor window seats and end seats into their calculations, maybe including one or two middle seats per pair. Because the number of “end seats” and “window seats” tallys up to 144 seats per M7 pair, and that number excludes the 51 middle or facing seats that people will avoid, and the 16 fold-down seats that also are avoided (though not in as high contempt as the middle seats)

As it turns out, ‘Middleseatphobia’ (or whatever you’d prefer to call it) is a real thing among LIRR & MNR commuters, and the fact that people would rather stand then sit their pretty much proves my point. In a perfect world, the LIRR & MNR would try to base their equipment rotations and loading factors better on the seats that are actually used, not just the ones that exist.

Also, before I go, happy last day of work or classes before the holidays!