The MTA board is poised to purchase 80 new “open-gangway” R211T subway automobiles, half of a bigger, 435-car buy choice from train-builder Kawasaki that was delayed by the pause on congestion pricing.
“Today is a big day for our subway system,” NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow stated Monday.
Open-gangway automobiles, which have lengthy articulated sections as an alternative of doorways between every automotive, are commonplace on a number of transit methods worldwide. The design permits for passenger move between automobiles, and proponents say they may cut back incidents of subway browsing by eliminating quick access to the practice’s exterior.
The MTA has been testing two trains of open-gangway automobiles on the C line for the previous 12 months.
Although the newly-ordered trains aren’t anticipated to reach till 2027, Crichlow stated Monday that one of many two 10-car trains on the C line might be cut up into two five-car trains and run on the G line early subsequent 12 months.
The G practice has traditionally run shorter trainsets — four-car units in recent times — and MTA chairman Janno Lieber stated the open-gangway five-car trains might assist alleviate crowding on the road.
An R211T subway practice. (Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
“This is going to specifically deal with some of the crowding conditions they talk about on those long platforms,” Lieber stated.
The $1.3 billion order additionally contains 355 commonplace R211 automobiles — the R211A that has been operating on the A and C strains.
MTA officers say the brand new order of automobiles will change the remaining R46 automobiles within the system, and at the very least half of the R68 automobiles presently in service.
These automobiles — recognized by straphangers for his or her orange-and-yellow “conversational” seating — are the oldest on the lettered strains, with R46s working on the A, C, N, Q and W trains and the Rockaway Shuttle, and the R68s working on the B, D, N, Q, and W trains in addition to the Franklin Ave. Shuttle.
The rollout of the open-gangway automobiles has been sluggish, with the majority of the automobiles bought from Kawasaki being of the extra conventional, closed-end design. Within the preliminary contract with the car-builder, the MTA had reserved the choice to buy lots of of open-gangway automobiles. As a substitute, after this order is accomplished, the transit company may have simply 100 open-gangway automobiles throughout your entire fleet.
A brand new C practice, a Kawasaki-made R211T, entered passenger service for the primary time at 168th St. in February. (Evan Simko-Bednarski / New York Every day Information)
Requested Monday if that directive nonetheless stood, Crichlow stated no.
“The new [open gangway] R211s will come with a couple of different nuances that the current cars do not have,” he stated.
“The new cars will have the ability to operate throughout the entire system, both with technical [additions] to the car itself, and procedural [additions] with our operating teams.”
Although the majority of the R211 order is supposed to switch the getting old R46s and R68s, Crichlow stated the open-gangway automobiles could be used to check the design throughout the lettered strains.
“These additional 80 cars are intended to be used throughout the system to get a better sense of how they perform on different lines,” he stated.
There are presently 320 R211s working on the A and C strains and certain for the Staten Island Railway, with Kawasaki persevering with to ship the 210 remaining from the MTA’s preliminary order. The transit company has additionally ordered a further 640 automobiles by way of a previous contract choice.
