Congestion Pricing to Fund Signal Modernization, New Elevators on Line
New R211 Railcars to Offer Faster, Safer, More Reliable Service
10 Subway Stations to Receive Accessibility Upgrades
44 New, More Efficient Long Island Rail Road Locomotives
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board this week approved an aggressive series of capital projects that will make 2025 a transformative year for the transit system – including more reliable new subway cars, more efficient new Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) locomotives, station accessibility improvements, and signal upgrades to the and lines in Brooklyn and Queens. These projects, many of which will be funded with revenues from congestion pricing, will reduce future maintenance costs across the system and give customers higher performing, more reliable transit infrastructure.
“We have an incredible Capital Program story going, delivering big projects on time and on budget,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “The MTA in 2024 delivered 15 ADA stations and 36 more stations in construction and we have billions of dollars in new procurements to advance work like buses and railcars coming in 2025. We’re kicking this Capital Program into high gear- 2025 is going to be a big year.”
“We’re moving forward with transformative projects including accessibility work at 10 stations, hundreds of modern rail cars, and critical work supported funded by congestion pricing like modern signals and the Second Avenue Subway,” said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. “And we’re continuing to build better faster and cheaper thanks to innovative tools like Design-Build and bundling projects.”
Modern Rolling Stock
The MTA is continuing to modernize its rolling stock by ordering 435 additional R211 subway cars and up to 44 new dual-mode LIRR locomotives. New York City Transit (NYCT) is ordering 355 closed-end cars and 80 open-gangway cars bringing the total number of R211 cars ordered to 1,610. These new railcars will replace the R46s which first entered service between 1975 and 1978. R211 cars are about 5x more reliable than the R46s, traveling an average of 220,000 miles, 174,000 more than the R46s, before requiring maintenance for a mechanical issue. The R211 features security cameras in every car, more accessible seating, brighter lights, clearer signage and 58-inch-wide door openings, which are eight inches wider than standard door openings on existing cars.
LIRR is exercising Option 3 of a previously awarded contract to order up to 44 dual-mode locomotives to replace the existing LIRR passenger diesel locomotives which are beyond their useful lives to keep service reliable. For 2024, the LIRR has achieved a higher year-to-date (YTD) on-time performance of 95.7%, compared to the same time period in 2019, while running 40% more service – over 900 weekday trains. Additionally, the LIRR announced its best November in recorded history with an on-time performance of 96.2% and service delivery rate of 99.6%.
The new locomotives will provide more reliable service and are rated Tier IV compliant, slashing airborne pollutants by more than 85%. This project is supported in part by congestion pricing funding.
Accessibility Upgrades at Five Subway Stations
The MTA continues to complete Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accessibility projects faster than ever before, delivering more ADA stations in the last five years than in the previous ten years combined.
MTA Construction & Development has completed work at 15 stations this year. There are 36 subway stations currently under construction.
Today the MTA Board approved an award for a contract for ADA upgrades at five subway stations and including the recently announced Middletown Road Station.
- Norwood Av
- Myrtle Av
- Avenue I
- Burnside Av
- Middletown Road
Congestion Pricing Funded Projects Moving Forward
The MTA is moving forward with critical projects supported by funds expected to be generated from congestion pricing. MTA Construction and Development has added Gates Av Station to an upcoming procurement for a package of ADA improvements at three stations. ADA Package 9 is among the first of the projects made possible by the implementation of congestion pricing to move forward into procurement. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will be issued by the end of the year to select a contractor. Construction is expected to begin late 2026.
- Parsons Blvd
- Briarwood
- Gates Av
A separate package to make 42 St–Bryant Park Station Complex fully ADA accessible is also expected to be awarded by the end of the year. Congestion pricing will provide funding to make an additional 19 stations fully accessible.
Work to install modern signaling, Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) on the Fulton St line in Brooklyn and Liberty Av line in Queens on the is moving forward into procurement. CBTC will provide more reliable and faster to service to East New York, Bedford Stuyvesant and Ozone Park neighborhoods.
Requests for Proposals (RFP) will be issued for Contract 2 of Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway project by the end of this year with a contract expected to be awarded in 2025. Phase 2 will extend train service from 96 Street north to 125 Street and then west on 125 Street to Park Avenue, approximately 1.5 miles in total. There will be two new stations at 106 Street and 116 Street on Second Ave, and a direct passenger connection with the existing 125 Street subway station on the Lexington Avenue subway line. Phase 2 will also feature an entrance at Park Avenue to allow convenient transfers Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem-125th Street Station.