STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Staten Island Railway has received its first new railcars in 50 years, with five of the R211 subway cars designated for service on the borough’s transit line unveiled at the railway’s Clifton Maintenance Shop after delivery in a series of nighttime moves.
The cars were moved overnight by flatbed trucks across the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge from Brooklyn. They are expected to enter service in early 2024, and will eventually replace the R44 cars introduced in 1973.
“For the first time in 50 years, brand new, faster, cleaner and safer trains are coming to Staten Island,” New York City Transit President Richard Davey said in a press release. “These new, top-of-the-line R211 cars feature security cameras and digital displays, along with wider doorways that will help speed up boarding times and run more reliable service. I look forward to delivering Staten Island Railway customers a totally modernized fleet as we introduce more new cars in the future.”
The Staten Island Railway will receive 75 cars as part of the 535-car order from Kawasaki Rail Car In. that also includes 440 standard R211A cars and 20 cars with the open gangway design [see “MTA provides first look at open-gangway subway cars,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 6, 2023]. The entire Staten Island portion of the initial Kawasaki order is expected to be delivered by the end of 2024. The MTA subsequently ordered another 640 of the R211 cars in 2022 [see “New York set to order …,” News Wire, Oct. 25, 2022].
Would you publish a map of Staten Island railroad. How does it connect with the rest of the system Staten Island ferry?
Credit must be given to the shop and repair team at the Clifton shops for keeping all these cars in goodworking order. In almost 100 years of electric MU service on Staten Island, there have only been 2 classes of cars that have ran on this line and now this new generation of cars will make it 3. What is interesting to noteis that while the city transit system had so many issues and mechanical problems with their fleet of identical R44 cars, the Staten Island fleet ran with no issues at all and in fact the Staten Island fleet of R44 cars was the first ones to enter service ahead of the R44 fleet that ran in the other 4 boroughs. One interesting wrinkle is how are Staten Islanders going to like riding on seats that run the length of the car and ride facing each other as compared to the previous models including the R44s that have window seats where you can look out the window and view the passing scenery. The entire ride from St George to Tottenville making all stops takes at least 45 minutes and not exactly a comfortable or enjoyable ride if you have to sit on seats where you look at your fellow passengers and your back to the windows. Surprising that for this line that there wasn’t an adjustment on the seating arrangement on these cars.
Otherwise it is finally time for Staten Island to receive their new railcars and ones that they have been waiting for a number of years while the rest of the city gets their new equipment. Let’s hope these new cars can run and last as long as the cars that they are replacing although I doubt that these cars are going to last 50 years or more.
Joseph C. Markfelder
And in 1973, the R44’s had replaced SIRT (Staten Island Rapid Transit) MU cars, built in 1925-1926 for the B&O which had owned SIRT.
By 1973, the SIRT cars were supplemented by cars leased from LIRR, proudly lettered “Long Island.” During a fantrip a passerby asked one of the railfans what was the event. He responded by pointing at the LIRR car and saying “It’s on the Wrong Island.”
I will have to go back to the Island when the new cars are running so I can say I’ve ridden every type of MU car built for the SIRR/SIRT.
“It’s on the Wrong Island.” Back in the early 70s, when the LIRR had many reliability issues, my railroad fan friends used to refer to it as “The Wrong Island Snail Road”
The time to bid farewell to the beloved veteran R44 cars is getting closer and closer. They were built by the St. Louis Car Company.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün