YONKERS, N.Y. — Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. this week marked delivery of its 5,000th railcar in the United States since entering the U.S. market in 1979, holding a ceremony at its Yonkers plant featuring Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber and state and local elected officials.
An R211 subway car for New York City Transit served as the backdrop for the ceremonies on Oct. 9.
“This is an important milestone for Kawasaki,” said Yusuke Hirose, Kawasaki president and chief operating officer. “We are proud of our history in working with New York State, the MTA, Westchester County, the City of Yonkers and all of our customers and vendors to power the region’s economy and deliver safety, reliability and comfort time and time again. Kawasaki looks forward to serving the MTA regions and transit authorities in the northeast corridor for many years to come.”
The cars delivered have a value of over $12 billion. The MTA has accounted for almost two-thirds of the orders, with 2,456 cars for New York City Transit, 474 for Metro-North Railroad, and 336 for the Long Island Rail Road. Others receiving Kawasaki rolling stock are the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 748 cars; the Port Authority Trans-Hudson, 517; the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, 266 cars; the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, 140 cars; MARC, 50 cars, and Virginia Railway Express, 13 cars.
“Over the past four decades Kawasaki has been a reliable partner to the MTA, manufacturing thousands of reliable cars for our customers,” said Lieber. “The company has been integral to the decades-long turnaround of the subway system and the 2025-29 Capital Plan recently adopted by the MTA Board calls for even greater investment in new subway and commuter rail cars.”
