Long Island commuters will have one less thing to worry about when riding in the LIRR’s next generations of trains: wiping the toilet seat.

The 160 new M9A electric rail cars coming to the LIRR as part of a $2.3 billion deal finalized Wednesday will, for the first time, feature urinals in each train bathroom, along with other new amenities, including phone charging ports at most seats, according to the railroad's president.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board unanimously approved the contract with New York City-based Alstom Transportation Inc. to design and manufacture 316 new M9A cars — 156 of which will go to Metro-North. The LIRR’s new trains are expected to roll out in 2030.

MTA officials had already previewed several planned upgrades on the new cars, including push-button doors on bathroom and glass windows that will be less prone to sun damage than the plastic windows on most other trains.

On Wednesday, LIRR president Robert Free told Newsday about the planned inclusion of urinals, which he said will serve the dual purpose of reducing the need for excessive flushing, which can cause maintenance issues, and helping maintain sanitary conditions in train bathrooms.

“People are always hesitant in any public bathroom to touch the seats, so having a separate urinal, in terms of the floors getting wet around the toilet bowl and just general cleanliness ... we think it will help,” Free said in an interview.

Longtime LIRR rider Michael Richman, of Great Neck, called the addition of urinals in bathrooms “a great idea” that should help address the challenges of maintaining your aim on a moving train.

"I think it will make people feel a little more secure,"  sid Richman, 79. "If they have to go, and they know the bathrooms are semi-sanitary, they’ll use them. They won’t wait until they get to Penn Station.”

In another upgrade long sought by commuters, MTA officials said the M9A cars will include electrical outlets with USB and USB-C ports at every seat in rows facing the backs of other seats. Where rows of seats face each other, riders will share an outlet on the wall.

The new outlet configuration builds on the LIRR’s most recent fleet, the M9 cars, which include one electrical outlet on the wall of every row. That's led to some riders complaining about fellow passengers running charging cables across their laps.

Free said another “huge benefit” of the train purchase is that Bombardier Transportation, which was acquired by Alstom in 2021, built the M7 trains cars that make up the majority of the LIRR’s fleet.

“You have legacy staff there that have familiarity with the M7s, which I think will go a long way, because there are a lot of similarities between the equipment,” Free said.

Alstom spokesman Matthew Schuerman said in a statement Wednesday that Alstom officials are “pleased to hear the news from the MTA board meeting and are waiting for contract finalization before commenting further.”

The MTA hoped to have the M9A trains in place for the 2023 opening of Grand Central Madison, which came with a significant increase in the number of trains operated daily. But the award of a contract was slowed by COVID-19-related supply chain issues and other financial challenges at the MTA.

The delay forced the LIRR to extend the life of its 40-year-old M3 fleet, which Free said will finally be retired with the arrival of the M9As.

“Those rail cars are now breaking down much, much more frequently than the rest of the fleet,” MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said at Wednesday’s MTA Board meeting. “We have to replace them, or else the riders are going to be experiencing cars taken out of service.”