M2 (railcar)

The M2 is a series of 244 electric multiple unit cars produced for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Connecticut Department of Transportation for use on the New Haven Line (then part of Penn Central, now part of Metro North). Built primarily by General Electric in a consortium with the Budd Company and Canadian Vickers between 1972 and 1977, the cars were initially branded as Cosmopolitans. Final assembly of the M2 cars using Budd or Vickers bodies was completed at GE's Transportation Division in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Both the model and brand name followed the pattern set up by the M1/M1A series (the Metropolitans) in use on the Long Island Rail Road (M1) and on Metro-North's Hudson and Harlem lines (M1A). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the M2 design was licensed by the MTA and ConnDOT to two other companies to produce follow-up series.

All cars are equipped with GE 1259 DC motors with a rated output of 162 horsepower (121 kW) on all axles.

M2 series

The M2 Cosmopolitan series (#'s 8400-8849) replaced EMU cars dating from the early 1920s to 1954, including the Pullman 4400-series. These were originally manufactured for, and inherited from, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. As with the cousin M1 series, the M2s accompanied an overhaul of the long-neglected main line and the New Canaan Branch in which longer, high level platforms were introduced along with other infrastructure improvements.