MNR Beacon Line

Do you mean the Shoreliners? They're dingy and uncomfortable, but I wouldn't count on it. Since they don't provide their own traction, they're much, much less likely to suffer a mechanical issue that prevents them from moving, so the need to replace them isn't as pressing as the need to replace old EMUs.

Blegh!

You've never seen someone on LIRR with a bike during rush hour because bikes are prohibited during rush hour on LIRR and MNR. Compared to LIRR, MNR has a much stronger intermediate / off/reverse-peak / car-free customer culture, which I could go on about for ages, but I can tell you that rider habits on LIRR are not at all reflective of MNR. MNR is getting some of the M9s; and it's not rare to see people having to hold their bikes for hour plus rides on the M7s/shoreliners. The bike racks on the M8s work great. They're in the accessible seating bay; if someone needs the accessible seats, the riders just remove the bikes (conflicts with this are rare, there are usually plenty of seats on off-peak trains to sacrifice one accessible seating bay per car).

Eh, I'm not impressed. It's basically identical to the M7 interior, but with non-pants-ripping armrests, more obnoxious advertising, powered vestibule doors, and outlets at every seat (all completely obvious improvements that they probably could have thought of even back in 2002). Aside from the easier-on-the-eyes color scheme (lord, that obnoxious red...), the seats on the M9 actually look inferior to the M8's, which have much more substantial head rests. I also don't see any bike hooks, maybe they just haven't happened to advertise them in any public materials, but if the M9 doesn't have them, it would be a pretty huge oversight. Having to sit with your bike is annoying, and they've worked beautifully on the M8s. The exterior is similarly uninspired, notwithstanding my main man Andy C's attempt to New York Stateify the livery.

Bless the Japanese guy making these videos. He's basically been us "civilians"' sole insight into the progress of this procurement.

Cost. One million times cost. It would be an absolutely non-trivial thing to convert the power infrastructure—it would basically have to be a complete teardown and rebuilt.

one word... ugh.