During the early 1990's, two trains (R-110A & B) have been undergoing strenuous tests for the next generation of subway cars. Among the improvements are:
The R110A is for the IRT lines and is a ten car train. The R110B is a nine car train of 67' cars for the BMT and IND. A 9 car train is about as long as a 8x75' or 10x60' train.
To be more accurate, the R110 contract was for the specifications for a new generation of cars. The actual contracts for construction should have been R130 for the IRT and R131 for the BMT/IND cars.
The column marked NYSR Page in the car type tables contain links to the New York Subways Resources Web pages for each of the fleets.
BMT/IND Fleets | IRT Fleets |
R TYPE | CAR NUMBER FROM TO |
QNTY DLVD |
DIV | PROPULSION | YEAR | NYSR Page | MFG | PHOTO | |
110A (R130) | 8001-8010 | 10 | IRT | AEG | 1992 | R-110A&B New_Tech | Kwsk | Brochure | |
110B (R131) | 3001-3009 | 9 | BMT /IND |
GE | 1992 | Bmbr | Car 3005 installed in PS 248 for track and anti-terrorist training (7/15/2004) | ||
R142 | 6301-6980 | 680 | IRT | Alstom Onix | 12/1999 and 1/2000 - one 10 car Pilot test train and two maintenance training cars | R-142-188 & later | Bmbr | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
|
6981-7180 | 200 (option) | ||||||||
(7181-7210) changed to 1101-1130 |
30 (second option) |
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7731-7850 changed to 1131-1250 |
120 (option) | IRT | Alstom Onix | ||||||
R142A | 7211-7610 | 400 | ADTranz | 1999 December - One 10 car test train | Kwsk | ![]() |
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7611-7730 | 120(option) | Bombardier | |||||||
R142S | 7731-7810 | 80 | Bombardier | New procurement identical to R142A | Kwsk | ||||
R-142A
converted to R-188 See R-188 details below |
7211-7220 | 10 | ADTranz | 2011 | Kwsk | Pilot cars | |||
7221-7590 | 370 | 2014-2016 | Conversion | ||||||
Total R142 | 1630 | ||||||||
1250 | Remaining R-142 total after R-188 conversion | ||||||||
R143 | 8101 - 8312 | 100 increased to 212 | BMT /IND |
Bombardier | First train (8101-8110) delivered
April 2001 Placed on 30 day in service testing 12/4/2001 Most of L service by 12/2002 |
R-143-160 & later | Kwsk | ![]() ![]() |
|
R-160A-1 | 8313 - 8652 | 340 | BMT /IND |
Alstom Onix | Two pilot
trains to be delivered in 2005. Delivery between 2006 - 2008 30 Day Tests: Kawasaki completed 10/2006 Alstom began 10/14/2006 In early 2007, trains going into service on N, Sea Beach-Astoria. They will probably be put into service on Q, Brighton-Broadway-Second Ave (if the first phase of the SAS opens). 7/31/2008 the cars for the G may be changed to four car units to back fill the shortage on the J/L/M due to CBTC issues. |
Alstom | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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85 four car
units For ENY with the R-143 fleet |
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R-160A-2 | 8653 - 8712 | 60 | 12 five car
units For Jamaica G service |
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R-160B | 8713-8842 | 130 | Kwsk | Five car units For Coney Island |
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8843-8972 | 130 | Siemens | |||||||
8973-9102 | 130 | Alstom Onix | |||||||
9103-9232 | 130 | Siemens | |||||||
R-160A-2 (I) | 9233- 9592 | 360 | Alstom | Option 2 | Alstom | Added Novenber 2008 - Delivery through 2009 | |||
R-160B-(II) | 9803-9942 | 140 | Alstom Onix | Option 2 | Kwsk | Due 2010 | |||
R-160A-2 | 9593-9802 | 210 | Alstom | Option 2 | Alstom | 2009 | |||
R-160A | 9943-9974 | 32 | Alstom | Option 2 | Alstom | Four car units to supplement the L line with CBTC. | |||
Total
R160 See: Current Car Fleet |
1662 When all are delivered (June 2010) |
All five car units in
service June 9, 2010 (Jamaica and Coney Island) All four car units in service June 18, 2010 in East New York. |
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With the August and Setpember 2009 car assignment sheets, Operations Planning separated the R-160B fleet as follows. How this will effect the car number blocks remains to be seen: | R-160B1 | Alstom | |||||||
R-160B2 | Siemens | ||||||||
R-179 | 3010-3049 |
40 5 car sets ABBBA |
BMT /IND |
Bombardier | Due 2015-17 | R-143-160 & later | Originally
planned to be enough cars to replace remaining R-32 to R-42 cars. But the
increase of R-160 makes this moot. October 2009 this will replace 272 car R-44 fleet with 60' cars. June 2010 with the service reductions of 2010, the R-44 fleet was removed from service. This returns the R-179 contract to the replacements for the remianing R-32 and R-42 50 five cars sets for the R-32 replacements and 10 four car sets for the ENY R-42 replacements. There might be an option for 10 more five car sets. March 24, 2012 The main 300 car order awarded. |
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16 3050-3309 | 260 4 car sets ABBA 16 additional B cars added to the contract Jan 2018 |
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80 | SIRT | Second option of 80
possibly for replacing SIRT R-44 fleet for 2015. |
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300 | BMT/IND | Bombardier | To replace remaining R-32 and R-42 cars | R-143-160 & later | Contract awarded Oct 2012 | Due Oct 2014-early
2015![]() Cars 3010-3014 delivered 9/2016 In service testing began Jan 2018 Jan 2018 - MTA modified the contract to add 16 B cara to makeadditional 5 carsets. Car numbers will be modified asmore informatin is available. |
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R-188 See summary below with all R-188 car numbers after conversions and new cars |
473 | IRT | Kawasaki | Planned 5 and 6 car
units to replace R-62's on the #7 Flushing. Including CBTC. See RFP for details |
R-142-188 & later | Only R142 suppliers are
eligible Kwsk Awarded the contract in 2010 |
Convert - 7
R142 new cars - 23 CBTC kits - 3 Options: 163 new 124 conversions 186 kits |
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November 17,
2010 Five cars (7216-7220) moved to Kawasaki Railcar in Yonkers for converstion. June 26, 2011 Five additional cars (7211-7215) were moved for conversion. One additional car will be built to make an 11 car train. An additional 22 new cars will be built making a total of three 11 car trains. |
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7921 renumbered: Spring 2012 7899 |
Update January 21, 2012: One C car to be
inserted into 7215-7220, number 7921, was delivered to 207 Street Shops by
January 2, 2012. the new configuration will be 7216-7217-7218-7219-7921 (7899)-7220 and will be paired with 5 car set 7211-7215. |
Update January 21, 2012: The contract has been modified
to purchase 103 cars and a total of 37 C cars. A new total of 370 existing
R-142A cars will be converted to CBTC. The net changes will project 473 cars,
43 11-car trains. This is planned for implementation between 2012 and 2016. As these cars are upgraded/purchased, a number of R-62A cars will be returned to mailine service on the #6 in Pelham. |
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Projected
numbers 7811-7832 7833-98 C cars: 7900-36 |
There will also be two six car and two five car new sets of cars to be delivered by the end of 2012. They are projected to be car numbers 7811-7832. | Dec 2012: fifteen R-142A from Pelham are undergoing conversion. | |||||||
Update Sept
2013: 7811-21 & 7822-32 on property 66 additional new cars 7833-98 begins 10/2013 for 9 months 370 R-142 converts with 37 C cars #7900-36 Jan 2014 to end of 2015 all 88 R-188 new cars due by Jun 2014 for extension of #7 to Javits. |
Nov
9, 2013 - First 30 day test of an 11 car train on Flushing line Cars officially in service with December 15, 2013 car assignments. |
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Updated projected numbers
(2014) 7811-7898 (5 & 6 car sets (ACBBA, ABBBCA)7899-7936 |
88 | IRT | Kawasaki | 506 cars
total for 46 eleven car trains |
8 ABBBCA 8 ABBBA sets |
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7899-7936 Single C cars |
38 | To be placed in 38 R-142A cars to make up ABBBCA sets. These will be matched with 38 additional converted R-142A set remaining as ABBBA sets | |||||||
Projected R-188 fleet
after all deliveries/conversions
According to the February 2015 ERA Bulletin, the
R-188 fleet will have suffixes added: |
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R-142A converted to R-188(C) | 7211-7220 | 10 | IRT | ADTranz | 2011 | R-142-188 & later | Kwsk | Pilot cars | |
7221-7590 | 370 | 2014-2016 | Conversion | ||||||
R-188(C-1) | 7899 | 1 | Bombardier | 2012 | Pilot C car | ||||
7900-7936 | 37 | 2014-2016 | Option C cars | ||||||
R-188(N) | 7811-7821 | 11 | 2012 | Pilot New | |||||
7822-7898 | 77 | 2013 | Option New | ||||||
Total R-188 | 506 | ||||||||
R-211 | Equivilent to the R-46 fleet
plus MTA Report 3/2016: 1305 to 1545 depending on options 75 cars for SIRTOA |
BMT/IND SIRTOA |
Kwsk | R-143-160 & later | See RFP Artist renderings from the press release ![]() ![]() ![]() From the Mar 2016 MTA minutes: RFP Authorizing Resolution for the purchase of 565 B Division Rapid Transit Cars (R211A), 75 Staten Island Railway Rapid Transit Cars (R211S) and 10 Open Gangway Test Cars (R211T) with an option to purchase 375 additional R211A Cars and a second option to purchase a range of approximately 280 to 520 additional R211A cars.Railway age article Jan 2018 |
Manufacturer key and electrical supplier totals for delivered R-110 to R-188 (as of January 2015):
Code | Builder/Electical | ADTRAN | AEG | ALSTROM | Bombardier | GE | Siemens | Totals |
Alstom | ALSTROM | 1002 | 1030 | 2032 | ||||
Bmbr | Bombardier (bom-BAR-dee-air) - it's French | 400 | 200 | 9 | 609 | |||
Kwsk | Kawasaki Heavy Industries | 10 | 400 | 338 | 260 | 1008 | ||
TOTALS | 400 | 10 | 1402 | 1468 | 9 | 260 | 3649 |
One unit of R-160 cars had a 6th car added to make up an 11 car test
train (5+6) for operation on the
to alleviate overcrowding. Since the cars have link bars,
the addition had to be done in the shop. The cars involved were: Units
9353-9357, 9363-9367 and 9368-9372. They were reconfigured into a single 11-car
test train. Cars 9363/9364/9365 were linked to 9370/9371/9372 to form a 6-car
set and coupled to unit 9353-9357.
The R142 and R142A's will be in permanently coupled sets of 5 cars. The end cars will be the only ones with cabs and will be numbers xxy1, xxy5,xxy6,xxz0 (z is the next tens digit after y). So a typical train will be:
7521+7522+7523+7524+7525-7226+7227+7228+7229+7230
+ is a drawbar
- is a coupler
This numbering scheme is a direct result of the screwy method introduced
by the R-62 and R68A cars. If the block began with '00', the cars would have
been more logical with the 0,4,5,and 9 endings being the cab cars:
7520+7521+7522+7523+7524-7225+7226+7227+7228+7229.
I guess that'll be the
puzzle for future railfans to ponder.
However, this is all moot. The R-143
cars are four car sets and the R-160 contract, where units are in four or five
car blocks. so forget about any logic in where the numbers break between
units.
With the delivery of the R-143 and R-160 fleest, even this scheme
has gone by the wayside with the four car and five car units mixed in the
contracts.
The 30 day testing for the R-160B Kawasaki train is complete, the testing for the R-160A Alstom train began on 10/14.2006.
Good News/Bad News/Good News: Although the CBTC system is almost ready on the Canarsie line, full implementation must be delayed until additional R-160A-1 cars are available because ridership is up and more trains will be needed. R-42 cars will be used and the old signal system will continue in service until then.
Arriving just under the wire for 1999, the 'PILOT' cars for the R 142 and R 142A contracts reached NYCT rails on December 20, 1999. As of February 2000, there are ten R 142 cars (6001-6010) and ten R 142A cars (7211-7220) on the property and ready for testing. They will be tested on the Dyre Ave test track between Dyre Ave and Morris Park. There will also be speed tests on the Rockaway flats.
The tests will last about five months, then there will be a 30 day in service test for each train. The trains must operate without problems for the full 30 days before the remainder of the fleets will be approved for shipment.
Bombardier shipped two production cars (6311 and 6312) for the 207th Street Shop for training mantenainers and supervisors on inspection and repair procedures.
The Bombardier cars were shipped by rail via the Delaware & Hudson, Hudson Division of MNCRR to Oak Point. From there the NY&A picks them up and takes them via the Hell Gate Bridge to Fresh Pond Yard (of the LIRR). Here the cars are removed from flat cars and assembled onto their trucks. From here the NY&A takes them to the Linden Shop of NYCT. There a TA diesel pulls them up the ramp to the IRT Livonia el for the trip to E180th St yard.
The Kawasaki cars are fabricated in Kobe Japan. The bodies and trucks are shiped by boat via the Panama Canal to Port Newark. Each car is on its own flatbed trailer, much like the recent delivery of the LIRR (photo taken at NJTP exit 14A) cars in 1999. From there they are trucked to Yonkers by highway. The cars are finally assembled and tested there. They are then trucked to 239th Street Yard, where they are placed on NYCT tracks.
The R-142 (Bombardier) and 142A (Kawasaki) will operate on the #2 and #5 lines. Their configuration will be ABBB'A. The B' cars will be wired in reverse so the trainline connections will be correct. Although draw bars will connect the units, they can easily be reconfigured into ABB'A four or ABB'BBA six car units. Because the B and B' cars have the air compressors, units may not be less than four cars (two compressors are required on each unit). Also more than four B or B' cars won't work since the those cars have only two traction motors. The A cars have four.
The R-142 test units (10 cars) are scheduled to arrive in May 1999. The test units for the R-142A are scheduled for November. Boths sets will be tested for about six months. When all are accepted, cars will be delivered at a rate of 40 per month.
If the options on both contracts are exercised, there will be a total of 1400 cars, enough to replace all of the R26, 28, 29, 33 and 36 cars.
The R143 BMT/IND contract was increased from 100 to 212 cars. They will be used mainly on the L Canarsie-14th St line. This line is the first to have Communication Based Train Control (CBTC). The R143 will be equipped with that system.
- The JoeKorNer
All photos are from the MTA New York City Transit archives. These GIF files were scanned from offset press prints, thus the quality of the reproduction varies with your monitor and video card capabilities.
With corrections and additions contributed by Edward Crew