Abstract: Vehicle is the most critical and expensive equipment in urban rail transit, its purchase amount accounts for 10 to 15% of the total project cost. Since the life cycle of urban rail transit vehicle is up to 30 years, the operation and maintenance cost may be even more costly. In traditional bidding mode, the initial purchase cost of vehicle attracts more attention in evaluation, while the huge energy consumption and maintenance costs tend to be ignored. By introducing the bidding mode of urban rail transit vehicle life cycle cost, the goal to achieve the overall benefit optimization for purchasing department is proposed, which will solve the disadvantages of the construction and operation division, consider the overall cost incurred in the vehicle life cycle.