NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s New York City Transit placed its first R211 subway cars into service on Friday, March 10, the first new additions to the New York subway fleet in five years.
The Kawasaki-built R211 cars, placed into service on the A Line (8th Avenue Express), are the first in a 535-car order placed in 2018. That includes 15 five-car trains for the Staten Island Railway and 20 cars piloting the open gangway feature [see “MTA provides first look at open-gangway subway cars,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 6, 2023].
The new cars feature 58-inch doors — 8 inches wider than the current standard — to help speed boarding, along with security cameras, more accessible seating, digital displays with more detailed station information, and brighter lighting, among other amenities.
“The new cars are going to give our riders a more modern passenger experience, so riding the subway no longer feels like a step into the past,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said in a press release. “We’re investing over $6 billion in new train cars as part of the historic $55 billion MTA Capital Program and it’s not just for aesthetics, because these new train cars enable us to run more frequent service.”
The initial 535-car order has since been supplemented by an order for another 640 cars [see “New York set to order …,” News Wire, Oct. 25, 2022; delivery of the first of those cars is expected to begin in 2025. The MTA also has an option for an additional 437 cars with the open gangway design, based on the results of the pilot testing.
Ian- The R 40s were based out of the Jamaica yards and were assigned to the Eand F lines as was the practice of the MTA to assign the newest subway cars to those lines. the same was also true for the R 38s and R 46 cars as well. Only as newer cars were placed in service than both R 40s, R38s and R 46s were moved to other lines. The R32s were basically assigned to the BMT divison for many years until they too started being moved to other lines. Now the Jamaica yards and Queens Blvd lines E, F, R and M lines are home for the R160 fleet which is as close as you get to standardization and also makes for better operation and maintainence. By the way the MTA is working on a new subway car for the IRT lines. This is a smaller version or sister to the R211 This is the R262 and would replace both the R62 and R62A subway cars on the IRT. However there is no timetable or schedule when this model might make its appearance or when a fleet might be delivered.
Joseph C. Markfelder
Was it wise to slant the sides and round the tops reducing inside volume ?
Nice to see wider doors. People standing in the doorway (when they do not need to) is a common problem getting on and off efficiently.
If I remember correctly the R-40 slants started service on the E & F routes, with the cars based out of Jamaica Yard in Forest Hills, Queens
I always liked the R 40 slants To me they had that futuristic look and besides they were a very safe and sturdy car and the slanted ends gave the cars another safety feature in the event of an accident and collision. Besides that a sturdy and rugged subway car was needed on the Rockaway divison to deal with the harsh winter weather and storms so common in the Rockaways
Joseph C. Markfelder
Great! I’m glad I got an opportunity a while back to ride R-32’s on the A. As a kid in the 60’s, I liked the A because it had the R-10’s.
Other IND lines at the time had R1/9’s that I was not particularily fond of; slow. But the traction motors grind made up for it somewhat. Going 25 in the tunnels made me feel like we were doing 50.
They may look great now but how long is it going to take before they get spray painted. You know those new an shiny cars are going to get tagged.
There have not been any graffitied subway cars in NYC for decades. Any that are “ragged” are immediately cleaned.
Nice to see that the A line is getting the first of these new subway cars. For many years it was the practice of the MTA to put brand new subway on the F line operating on Queens Blvd. The A line for many years used to get all the “hand me downs from other lines after they were old and worn down. The last brand new subway cars for the A line was the R 10 models back in 1951. Now hopefully the folks in Staten Island won’t have to wait much longer for the R 211 cars to arrive and begin service on the Staten Island Railroad which has the oldest cars in service. A small fleet of R 44 cars operating on the line since 1972
Joseph C. Markfelder
What is interesting about the age of the existing Staten Island cars is that it is equivalent to AMTRAK starting in 1971 with early 1920s heavyweights.
I recall the A being the domain of the R40 “slant” throughout the 70s, though they may not have been christened on that route. That that long front-door window barrelling across Jamaica Bay was better than anything the shiny R46’s could offer 6-year-old me.
I think it was the C, the A’s local counterpart, that got the downest of the hand-me-downs, running the venerable R10 through the late 1980s.
In the NEC Amtrak DID start with PC (PRR) P70fbR coaches, built in the late 1920’s and rebuilt 1948-1952 with new trucks. Amtrak never owned the cars: they were leased from PC. Amfleet replaced them.