In mid-2012, the MTA issued a joint procurement request for the LIRR and Metro-North for a total of up to 676 M9 railcars, set for delivery between 2016 and 2020. On September 18, 2013, Kawasaki Heavy Industries was awarded a nearly $1.8 billion contract for the order, comprising a base order of 92 cars for the LIRR with options for an additional 584 cars. Funding for the 92-car base order was included in the MTA's 2010-2014 Capital Plan, with funding for the rest of the order included in the 2015-2019 and future capital plans. In July 2014, the MTA forecast a need of 416 M9 and M9A cars for the LIRR and up to 188 M9 cars for Metro-North, for a total order of 604 cars. Of the 416 cars ordered for the LIRR, 160 would be M9A cars, a separate order to be paid for with federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration under the East Side Access project. The MTA issued a request for proposals for 60-160 M9A cars in December 2017. In June 2018, Metro-North announced that they would elect to not exercise their options for the M9 order, instead overhauling their M3A units to extend their lifespan. However, that November, Metro-North stated that they "are working with LIRR to procure new M9A cars in the next Capital Program to provide additional capacity and to replace their existing M3s instead of overhauling same." By October 2017, car production was delayed again as the 92-car base order was now scheduled for delivery between July 2018 and March 2019, at a cost of $393 million. Construction delays in the East Side Access project meant that delivery of M9 and M9A railcars intended for use on that line had been deferred. An M9 trainset was delivered to Pueblo for testing in 2017, but LIRR field tests had been pushed back to April 2018. By June 2016, the M9 cars that were ordered for the LIRR were expected to be delivered starting in November 2018.
Delivery schedule
The 416 cars of the LIRR's M9/M9A order is split into four parts. In July 2014, the delivery schedule was as follows: 92 base order cars and 88 option 1 cars to replace the M3 fleet as well as 76 option order cars and 160 M9A cars to be used for East Side Access service increases. 14 pilot cars were to be delivered September 2016 for testing, with the production cars being delivered at a rate of 12 cars per month. The balance of 188 cars for Metro-North was expected to begin delivery in December 2018 and be completed February 2020. By October 2016, the MTA forecast ordering 140-170 cars for Metro-North, which would bring the total size of the M9/M9A order to a maximum of 586 cars. The production of the base order had suffered delays, and the first eight-car pilot train was now scheduled for testing at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. facility in Pueblo, Colorado from June to August 2017, with the first fourteen-car pilot train on the LIRR was scheduled for testing from October to December 2017. The 92-car base order was now scheduled for delivery between June 2018 and January 2019. The first four M9s were delivered from the TTCI facility to the LIRR in mid-2018. The M9s began testing on June 12, 2018 and were expected to go into service by the end of May 2019. However, a variety of issues or bugs were found on the cars, delaying debut for additional weeks, until all of these issues or bugs have been resolved or ironed-out. The cars in the original base order are expected to be completed in January 2020. The first set of 8-car M9 entered service on September 11, 2019 on the Port Jefferson Branch. The trainset originated at Huntington station and left at 6:50 AM and arrived at Hunterspoint Avenue station on time.
Features
The M9s are equipped with numerous customer amenity improvements over their predecessors. The cars are equipped with closed loop seat armrests similar to those on the M8s, wider seats, electrical outlets on both sides of a car in each row of seats, four 32-inch multimedia screens in each car, four to six additional seats per married pair, as well as powered doors on the "B" end of each car. The flip seats in the cars are equipped with a suspension system to prevent them from slamming. The cars also feature exterior destination signs that are visible on each end as the train approaches a station, to let passengers know where the train is going. All M9s will be equipped with positive train control and CCTV cameras that allow the train crew to view the passenger areas of the train. Like the M7s and M8s, the M9s feature automated announcements and LED displays that show the current station, the following station, and the train's destination, external public address speakers, and electronic destination signs. Additionally, the internal and external destination signs also display the car's position within a train, allowing passengers to know where they are in case of stations with shorter platforms. The M9 and M9A fleets incorporate new announcements that are easier to hear and understand, and differ from the M7/M7A, M8, and C3 fleets. The M9As also feature USB ports installed in each alternating current electrical outlet, as well as powered bathroom doors, stainless steel urinals in each bathroom, and Gorilla Glass side windows that do not haze, fade or crystallize.
