Abstract: Vehicle type selection directly affects investment of project, difficulty of construction and sustainability of subsequent network development. Vehicle formats of typical urban rapid rail transit line are introduced. Targeting the characteristics of urban rapid rail transit, vehicle applicability on metros and intercity railways is analyzed. Considering the existing standards, technical requirements involved in the selection of urban rapid rail transit vehicles are comprehensively analyzed from the perspectives of vehicle type, marshalling, maximum operating speed, power supply system, current collection mode, vehicle staffing and vehicle cost. Analysis shows that the selection of urban rapid rail transit vehicles needs to be determined after comparing and selecting through many factors according to the actual situation.