LIRR M9s
PRODUCTION
MTA-M9 10-2017.jpg (54245 bytes)
MTA/LIRR  M9 #9001 10/2017
lirr9001_Kawasaki-Heavy-Industries-Hyogo-Works-2016.jpg (79871 bytes)
LIRR #9001 Kawasaki Heavy Industries - 
Hyogo Works, Japan  2016
M-9_Engineer-Cab.jpg (57439 bytes)
M9 Engineer Cab 2016
M-9_Pilot-Car-Interior2.jpg (60419 bytes)
M9 Pilot Car Interior Cab forward 2016
M-9_Pilot-Car-Interior.jpg (62109 bytes)
M9 Pilot Car Interior - Rear view 2016
M-9_Milestones.jpg (45593 bytes)
M9 Procurement Milestones Look Ahead

 

This section: Photos/Resource: MTA/LIRR 


Kawasaki Plant, Yonkers - M9 #9064, 9063, 9057, 9058, 9055 10/15/2019 Photo/Archive: Tim Darnell
INITIAL DELIVERY

On Sunday, April 29, 2018, M9s 9010-9009 and 9014-9011 were transferred from the New York & Atlantic Railway Co. Fresh Pond Yard to the LIRR for acceptance and testing. These cars are part of an initial order of 92 cars from Kawasaki, with options for 508 more. The recently repainted LIRR MP15AC # 154, will lead toward Jamaica. Marc Glucksman

Kawasaki-M-9s_Fremont_viewN_4-29-18_Barry-Johnson.jpg (110030 bytes)
M9s delivery to Fremont Jct. view N 4/29/18 Photo: Barry Johnson
Kawasaki-M-9s_Fremont_viewW_4-29-18_Barry-Johnson.jpg (124782 bytes)
NYA delivery to Fresh Pond view W 4/29/18 Photo: Barry Johnson
M9-9010_Fresh-Pond_4-29-18_Greg-Grice.jpg (102679 bytes)
M9 #9010  Fresh Pond 4/29/18 Photo: Greg Grice
M-9s-transfer-Pond_4-29-18 MarcGlucksman.jpg (120271 bytes)
Kawasaki M9s transfer from Fresh Pond 4/29/18
Photo: Marc Glucksman
Kawasaki-M-9s-window-detail_Jamaica_4-29-18_Paul-Pesante.jpg (35076 bytes)
Kawasaki M9 Window detail 4/29/18
Photo: Paul Pesante
MOVED TO HILLSIDE

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Kawasaki-M-9s_Jamaica_4-29-18_Paul-Pesante.jpg (121187 bytes)
Kawasaki M9s Jamaica 4/29/18 Photo: Paul Pesante
MP15AC-154_Kawasaki-M-9s_Jamaica_4-29-18_Paul-Pesante.jpg (100479 bytes)
LIRR MP15AC #154 - Kawasaki-M-9s Jamaica 4/29/18
Photo: Paul Pesante
Kawasaki-M-9s-coupled_Jamaica_4-29-18_Paul-Pesante.jpg (72028 bytes)
Kawasaki M9s 9009/9014 at Jamaica 4/29/18 Photo: Paul Pesante
MP15AC-154_Kawasaki-M-9s_Hillside-Station_4-29-18_Barry-Johnson.jpg (97783 bytes)
MP15AC #154 M-9s arrive at Hillside Station 4/29/18
Photo: Barry Johnson
MP15AC-154_Kawasaki-M-9s_Hillside_4-29-18_Road-Foreman-Engines-Barry-Johnson.jpg (162198 bytes)
MP15AC #154 M-9s at Hillside Station 4/29/18
Photo: Barry Johnson, Road Foreman of Engines
Kawasaki-M-9s_Hillside-Boneyard_4-29-18_Barry-Johnson.jpg (131093 bytes)
 M9s stored at Hillside "Boneyard" 4/29/18
Photo: Barry Johnson
M9 TEST TRAIN
"Nines at Republic" Long Island Rail Road & Kawasaki Heavy Industry's M9 Test Train head west past the former Republic Station on LIRR Main Line, 3/11/2019. The six car train is making several runs throughout the LIRR system, testing each function the railcars have to offer. Republic station, which opened in 1940, served Republic Airport and employees of Fairchild Aircraft manufacturing company until Republic Station was closed in 1986 as new stations with high-level platforms opened as part of the Hicksville-Ronkonkoma Electrification replacing low-level platform facilities. All that remains are the staircases that lead passengers from NY Route 110 to the platform which are seen in the foreground and background of this photo.  Photo/Archive/Info: Greg Grice
M9-test-train_New-Hyde-Park_3-15-2019_AlexVasic.jpg (83556 bytes)
M9 #9010 test train New Hyde Park 3/15/2019
Photo/Archive: Alex Vasic
M9-test-train_Pinelawn_3-12-2019_DanielForan.jpg (112279 bytes)
M9 #9011 test train Pinelawn 3/12/2019
Photo/Archive: Daniel Foran
M9-9012_Bethpage_3-21-2019_DanielForan.jpg (111783 bytes)
M9 #9012 Bethpage 3/21/2019 
Photo/Archive: Daniel Foran
M9-test-train_New-Hyde-Park-Station_3-15-2019_AlexVasic.jpg (82077 bytes)
M9 #9013 test train New Hyde Park Station
3/15/2019 Photo/Archive: Alex Vasic
M9-test-train_Amityville_3-8-2019_DanielForan.jpg (92986 bytes)
M9 #9013 test train Amityville 3/08/2019
Photo/Archive: Daniel Foran
M9-test-train_Amityville-Station_3-8-2019_DanielForan.jpg (73475 bytes)
M9 #9014 test train Amityville Station  3/08/2019
Photo/Archive: Daniel Foran
M9-9011_Lynbrook_4-10-2019_MilesBlount.jpg (113345 bytes)
M9 #9011 test train Lynbrook 4/10/2019 
Photo/Archive: Miles Blount

M9 #9183-9184 eastbound test run passing Forest Hills Station 1/23/2024 Photo/Archive: Thomas Farmer
PRODUCTION ARRIVALS AT FRESH POND
M9s- 9015-9016-Fresh-Pond-interchange_3-19-2019_viewN_GregGrice.jpg (197712 bytes)
M9s #9015 and #9016 at Fresh Pond Interchange - View N 3/19/2019 Photo/Archive: Greg Grice

Fresh Pond map - NYA

Long Island Rail Road's Roustabout crew tow a pair of Kawasaki M9 EMUs over the Fresh Pond Bridge clear of the "Interchange" switch in order to get downstairs to the Fresh Pond Yard Wye. This pair, numbered 9015 & 9016, are the first "production" cars produced from Kawasaki's Lincoln Nebraska Plant. Once the pair is downstairs, Kawasaki officials inspect the cars for any damage that may have occurred in transit. Greg Grice  Note: They are shipped with regular AAR couplers.

The horn as most have noticed is no longer the classic Leslie RS-2M. Leslie's prices have skyrocketed as of late, so the railroad has opted to use Nathan Airchime horns instead. The horns on the M9s are a Nathan K2H horn with K bells 2 and 3B. Additionally, it sounds like a single diaphragm is being used in the 2 bell instead of the standard double diaphragm, which is why the pitch changes on the 2 bell as the airflow from the valve increases. I will attempt to recreate this horn, as I have the K2H manifold, a raised letter 2 bell, and will soon possess a raised letter 3B bell (modified from a 3 bell). Stay tuned! Fan Railer

 

PRODUCTION TEST TRAINS

M9 #9008 eastbound approaching Bellmore  8/13/2019 Photo/Archive: Daniel Foran

M9 #9017  Bellmore Station 8/13/2019 Photo/Archive: Daniel Foran

CSX AC4400CW 475 leads Y102 with a Kawasaki (LIRR) M9 pair in tow past Borax Paper Products on the Oak Point Link in the Bronx. The pair (KRMX 9021/9022) has finished receiving modifications at Kawasaki's plant in Yonkers and is on it's way to Fresh Pond Yard in Queens for
pick-up by Long Island Rail Road. 8/26/2019 Photo/Archive/Info: Gregory Grice

M9 #9015 press run westbound at Mineola 9/10/2019
FIRST RUN
LIRR to Introduce New Fleet of Rail Cars Tomorrow

M9 Cars to Enter Passenger Service as the 6:50 a.m. Train from Huntington on September 11, 2019:

Long Island Rail Road President Phil Eng today announced that the LIRR’s next fleet of rail cars, known as the “M9” cars, will enter into passenger service tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019.
The new cars incorporate and improve upon the most successful and popular features of the MTA’s two recent electric car fleets, the LIRR’s familiar M7s electric cars, and the M8 cars serving Metro-North’s New Haven Line, and will enhance safety.

“These new cars will offer new amenities and a better environment for our customers,” Eng said. “Even if your train isn’t composed of these cars, there’s a good chance they will benefit you because as we receive more of them, we will lengthen many of our busiest trains, providing more seats for more customers.”

The fleet will consist of 202 cars, the last of which are expected to begin passenger service in March 2021. The first eight cars are entering service tomorrow as the 6:50 a.m. train from Huntington, due into Hunterspoint Avenue at 7:49 a.m. The trainset’s later runs for tomorrow are anticipated to be as the 5:06 p.m. train from Penn Station due into Hempstead at 5:57 p.m., and the 10:37 p.m. train from Penn Station, due into Babylon at 11:32 p.m.

The M9 trainset is expected to operate on these same runs on Thursday. On Friday, the LIRR expects to lengthen the trainset to 10 cars and operate it on a different set of trains. The trainset will be lengthened again by two more cars, on Sept. 20, with the resulting 12-car trainset serving yet a different collection of trains throughout the days that follow.

The cars will have exterior destination signs on the front of cars that are visible to passengers as the train approaches the station, similar to the new cars on Metro-North’s New Haven Line. They will have electrical outlets on both sides of the car in each row of seats, and closed loop armrests that won’t tear garments or catch bag straps.

The cars will feature an innovation that is new for the first time in the region: an electronic display that will let passengers know what car within the train they are seated (for example, “Car 3 of 10”) which will be of help to customers exiting at stations where not every car will meet the platform.

Walking from car to car will become easier because between every other car there will be a door that operates at the push of a button. The seats in the cars will be slightly wider than the seats on the M7 cars, and the cars will seat more people than the M7 cars, with up to 6 additional seats in each pair of cars.

The cars are fully equipped for Positive Train Control, a major safety enhancement that will reduce the potential for human error to contribute to train-to-train collisions or derailments. They have cameras in the train engineer’s cab, facing into the cab to monitor the engineer’s alertness and facing forward to show the tracks ahead, and cameras in passenger area of the cars to serve as a deterrent to criminal activity.

The bathroom experience will be enhanced on the new cars, which will have better restroom design that improves cleanliness. There will be no touch needed for flushing the toilet, dispensing sink water and hand soap and drying hands. There are improved restroom doors and coat hooks and additional air quality treatments.

The cars will have additional speakers in the vestibule for clearer public announcements, threshold illuminating lights at the side and end doors, and are anticipated to offer a smoother ride than the M7 cars and reduce sun glare with a slightly increased level of window tint.

The cars are being designed and manufactured by Kawasaki Rail Car, based in Yonkers. The first 14 pilot cars were built in Japan, with these first eight aggressively tested in Pueblo, Colorado, before further aggressive testing on the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road. The remaining 188 cars are being manufactured in Lincoln, Nebraska, with final assembly taking place in Yonkers.  9/10/2019 MTA/LIRR
 

The LIRR's new M9 cars will include several amenities, including:

Electrical outlets at every row of seats
Automatic pocket doors in between train cars that open with the press of a button
A digital display on the exterior of the front car of the train telling passengers waiting on platforms the train's destination
“No-touch” hand dryers, toilets, soap dispensers and faucets in bathrooms
Increased window tint to reduce sun glare
Four 32-inch multimedia screens in each car
Closed-loop seat armrests that are less likely to snag and rip clothes than on the M7 trains  Source: LIRR
 


M9 Seating Chart

Source: thelirrtoday.com
The inaugural revenue service for the M9s occurred this morning as #9015 led  Train #1621 from Huntington 6:50AM to Hunterspoint Avenue 7:48AM, September 11, 2019.
The consist was: 9015-9016-9007-9008-9005-9006-9001-9002. Train#1621 stops: Huntington, Cold Spring Harbor, Syosset, Hicksville, Jamaica and Hunterspoint Avenue.

M9 #9002 first run LI City 9/11/2019 Photo/Archive: Jose Garrido Alonzo

 M9 #9002 first run Hempstead  9/11/2019 Photo/Archive: Michael Kam

M9 #9015 first run Syosset 9/11/2019 Photo/Archive: Bill Mangahas

 M9 interior first run 9/11/2019 Photo/Archive: Ed McMahon
M9 PHOTOS

M9 #9017 Train #2055 Pinelawn - View E 10/10/2019  Photo/Archive: Daniel Foran

M9 Wreck Lead bascule bridge - View N 10/25/2019 Source: MTA

M9 #9017 Train #2041 Pinelawn - View E 12/06/2019  Photo/Archive: Neil Feldman

M9 #9022 cab end view 1/27/2020 Photo: John Terry

M9 #9040 Huntington west of Oakwood Rd. - View SW 8/27/2020 Photo/Archive: Jeff Erlitz


M9s at Yonkers for delivery to the LIRR.
 Metro-North in background 6/17/2021 Photo: Jim William

M9 cab 2021 Photo/Archive: Eli Hanson

M9 door at Grand Central Madison - 8/09/2023
Photo/Archive: Tyrell Callender
 

Report finds Long Island Rail Road shares blame for delivery problems with new railcars

NEW YORK — An initial order for new electric multiple-unit railcars for the Long Island Rail Road fell almost three years behind schedule and more than $8.9 million over budget — and the commuter railroad failed to collect damages and accepted cars with defects that were not repaired in a timely fashion, according to a state audit report.

In a response, the LIRR said it “fundamentally disagrees with the audit conclusions.”

The report from the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli examines the acquisition of M9 EMU railcars from Kawasaki from the time the order was placed in September 2013 to the point until November 2020, by which time 64 of the 92 cars in the original order had been conditionally accepted. The LIRR also exercised an option for 110 additional cars in July 2017.

According to the report, LIRR officials say the M9 project is behind schedule because of an accident in delivering eight pilot cars, and because of testing at the Federal Railroad Administration test center in Pueblo, Colo. The audit found that issues discovered during the testing in Pueblo were not corrected before additional cars were delivered with the same problems.

Cars accepted with defects which have not been fixed

The report also says the LIRR contributed to the problem by accepting cars with deficiencies under a “conditional acceptance” process in the contract, It says the commuter railroad identified manufacturing issues including inadequate employee training at the company’s Nebraska factory, ineffective inspections prior to delivery, and inadequate staffing at the final assembly facility in Yonkers, N.Y. While the LIRR said it outlined corrective action, the report found these actions were not effective.

As of Aug. 13, 2020, the LIRR had accepted 62 railcars with a total of 9,230 defects or deficiencies — none of which are safety-related, the railroad says. Over a year later, those defects had not been corrected, nor had the LIRR set a deadline for the builder to do so. With the contract running almost three years behind schedule, the LIRR is focused on delivery of the remaining cars, not fixing defects on those delivered. “The continued operation of railcars with minor defects and deficiencies runs the risk of aggravating the defects over time into conditions that will impact the operations of the railcars and result in increased repair costs,” the report says.

Report says millions in damages have not been assessed

The contract with Kawasaki provides for liquidated damages; a subsequent contract revision set damages at a flat rate per car, per calendar day of delay, beginning 30 days after the a date set for each car in the contract, until its acceptance or conditional acceptance. Under the original contract, these damages were almost $12.9 million as of January 30, 2019, but the revised contract waved those damages and required the LIRR to pay $18.8 million to resolve outstanding claims. Under the revised contract, the LIRR was in position to assess $5.5 million in damages as of Sept. 11, 2020, a number expected to reach $12 million for the first 92 cars. The LIRR said its practice is to access damages at the end of a contract; the audit contends the LIRR should act earlier “to prod the contractor to improve its performance.”

The report also found the LIRR had not ensured software testing had been performed as required, and that it did not follow contractor evaluation guidelines. It outlines a total of 12 recommendations to address the issues identified by the audit.

LIRR response takes issue with most points

The response from LIRR President Phillip Eng says the commuter railroad “strongly disagrees that it contributed to the delays by accepting cars with deficiencies,” saying this is an industry practice with non-safety related minor defects, and that it assists in expediting the delivery schedule. It also says that contrary to the audit report, its remedial actions with the manufacturing problems were effective.

While the audit claims there are $8.9 million on overruns, the LIRR contends no overruns exist because the contract combines both the phases of the contract instead of breaking out the initial order, as was done in the audit. It also says it is inaccurate that the LIRR did not assess damages, as those damagers were part of a negotiated settlement.

On the matter of unaddressed defects, the LIRR says that because cars must be taken out of service to be modified, “it is to LIRR’s benefit to combine as many modifications as possible so the cars come out of service as few times as possible.” It also says the report “dramatically overstates” the significance of operating cars with minor defects.  3/29/2022  Trains.com