NYCT, The Next Generation

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:

• AC motors
• Passenger intercom
• Through train viewing
• New seating arrangements
• New standee poles
• Automatic station announcements

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.

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)
	7731-7850 changed to 1131-1250	120 (option)	IRT	Alstom Onix
R142A	7211-7610	400		ADTranz	1999 December - One 10 car test train		Kwsk
	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	Flexible Information and Notice Display
								85 four car units For ENY with the R-143 fleet
R-160A-2	8653 - 8712	60						12 five car units For Jamaica G service
R-160B	8713-8842	130					Kwsk	Five car units For Coney Island
	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.
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		300	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.
		80	SIRT					Second option of 80 possibly for replacing SIRT R-44 fleet for 2015.
		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
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
					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.
	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.
	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.
	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
	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: C = R-142 conversions C-1 = New C cars for conversions N = All new cars regardless of A/B/C types
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	BMT/IND			R-143-160 & later		See RFP

Manufacturer key and electrical supplier totals for delivered R-110 to R-188 (as of January 2015):

April 2, 2009

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.

Some personal comments about the car numbers:

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.

This information is from the November 2006 ERA NY Division bulletin:

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.

This information is from the February 2000 ERA NY Division bulletin:

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.

This information is from the May 1999 ERA NY Division bulletin:

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.

See information about Door controls and Cabs on this page.

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