bilevel cars, to be delivered from 2024 to 2027, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Retired equipment As the MBTA assumed control of the commuter rail during the 1970s, it inherited various equipment from predecessor railroads. The 1976 purchase of B&M and Penn Central equipment included 94 Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) – 86 from the B&M and eight from Penn Central – plus 116 Penn Central coaches and 25 Penn Central E8 and GP9 diesel locomotives. Although the MBTA purchased some new equipment in 1978–1980, large locomotive and coach fleets were not purchased until the late 1980s, so the first decade of combined operations used a variety of secondhand equipment in addition to that acquired in 1976: Four ALCO PA locomotives leased from the Delaware and Hudson Railway in 1978 48 coaches leased from GO Transit in 1978–1980. 51 coaches (some of which were in the previous group) were leased in 1984–85. 19 EMD GP7 locomotives leased from the B&M in 1978–1982 24 RDCs acquired or leased from MARC, SEPTA, and New Jersey Transit between 1983 and 1987 11 EMD GP9 locomotives acquired from the Burlington Northern Railroad and SEMTA in 1983–1986 One EMD SW9 locomotive acquired from the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1984 Most of the secondhand and inherited equipment was retired between 1979 and 1989. 33 ex-B&M RDCs were converted to locomotive-hauled coaches (designated BTC-2 and CTC-2) in 1980 and 1982; they were retired by 1989. This left all MBTA service operated by locomotives and coaches purchased new by the MBTA. At several points since, the MBTA or its contract operator has temporarily leased locomotives when needed. Some passenger equipment acquired new by the MBTA has been retired: 18 EMD F40PH locomotives (1000–1017), built 1978–1980 and last ran in 2015 19 EMD FP10 locomotives (1100–1114 and 1150–1153), rebuilt 1979 from Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad locomotives and last ran in 1991 Expansion projects Regional rail and electrification The MBTA plans to convert the system from diesel-powered commuter rail – which is primarily designed for Boston-centric trips at peak hours – to an electric regional rail system with frequent all-day service. Initial steps were taken in fall 2020 when some peak service was moved to midday, and in April 2021 when 9 of the 15 lines were moved to clock-face scheduling. A previous attempt at regional rail was made in 2013–2014 with a procurement for diesel