PITTSBURGH — New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has exercised an option with Wabtec to purchase 45 additional R255 hybrid locomotives for subway system maintenance work.
The battery-diesel hybrids improve working conditions for maintenance crews, especially in tunnels, eliminating emissions with the ability to run on their approximately 500 kilowatt-hours of battery power for several hours. They permit work-train movements when third-rail power is de-energized.
Wabtec will build the R255s in Erie, Pa. As approved by the MTA board in October 2025, the $386 million order includes both locomotives and spare parts, and calls for deliveries to begin in May 2027 and be completed by September 2029. They will replace five different models of locomotives built between 1966 and 1983 that the MTA says have exceeded their useful life of 35 years.
“The success of the R255 hybrid locomotive is a tribute to the strong working relationship between Wabtec and the MTA,” Alan Hamilton, vice president of engineering for Wabtec, said in a press release. “Our collaboration positioned this locomotive as the ideal solution to maintain the subway system efficiently and reliably.”
The MTA ordered 25 of the locomotives in 2020, with the first units delivered in mid-2024. They were certified for use across the subway system a year ago after extensive testing [see “Wabtec hybrid locomotives approved …,” Trains.com, Jan. 7, 2025].
Other features of the locomotive include cameras and video recorders to capture images of the track, lineside assets, and signaling equipment, and onboard diagnostic systems for maintenance.
Wabtec produced this video on the R255 locomotives when units in the original order were first delivered.
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