The T made an ‘unusual’ stipulation for those vying to be its next commuter rail operator: No lawsuits

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The T is requiring that the private companies competing for its commuter rail contract waive “all rights to protest any aspect” of the procurement or sue the agency as a condition of getting a stipend worth up to $3 million for submitting a bid.

MBTA leaders are expected to pick one of three companies to win a multibillion-dollar contract to run the commuter rail next month.

In an unusual move, they’re trying to ensure the bidders can’t sue them over the deal.

Such payouts for assembling a proposal can be common as a way to drum up competition. But the stipulation that the bidders then cannot challenge the T is practically unheard of in transportation procurements in Massachusetts, seven former state officials and T employees told the Globe.

Of 20 ongoing, but far smaller, T procurements opened in 2026 for which information was publicly available, none included such a ban.

The MBTA said it last included a no-protest provision in 2017, when it sought bidders for a roughly $1 billion fare collection contract to replace the CharlieCard system with a modern, tap-and-go alternative.

“It’s all highly unusual, but this is also a highly unusual contract,” said Chris Dempsey, a former assistant secretary of transportation and longtime transportation advocate. “This is a commuter rail contract where it doesn’t just have all that political risk. It has risks to the economy and the operations of the state.”

By the T’s account, similar conditions have been included in large procurements in at least five other states in contracts worth up to $2.3 billion each.

Massachusetts public contract processes typically do not seek to forbid losing bidders from filing litigation, and they often do.

The state Department of Transportation recently faced a lawsuit over its decision to award a contract to redevelop the state’s 18 highway service plazas to an Irish retailer, which ultimately pulled out of negotiations.

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