New York’s MTA Approves Purchase of Next Generation Subway Cars

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board voted on Wednesday to approve the purchase of 535 state-of-the-art, next generation subway cars for use on the lettered subway routes and the Staten Island Railway.

The cars will be built and designed by Kawasaki Rail Car Inc., with options for up to 1,077 additional cars. If the options are exercised, the total purchase would go up to 1,612 cars, at a cost of $3.7 billion, pending future Board approval.

The funding for the initial base contract, for $1.4 billion, will be provided by the Federal Transit Administration.

Next Generation Subway Cars
R211 Subway Car © MTA

Next Generation Subway Cars

The R211s feature 58-inch wide door openings, which are 8 inches wider than standard doors on existing cars. The expanded doors are designed to reduce delays and speed up train movement by speeding up boarding and reducing the amount of time trains sit in stations. Cars delivered to the lettered subway routes will be compatible with an advanced signaling system known as Communications-Based Train Control, enabling New York City Transit to deliver more frequent and reliable service by operating trains more closely together. All cars will also have digital displays to provide real-time, location-specific information about service and stations, new grab rails including double-poles, and brighter and clearer lighting, signage, and safety graphics.

Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc.

Kawasaki has a history of successfully delivering subway cars for MTA New York City Transit. Transit’s R160 and R188 subway cars were also designed and built by Kawasaki.

MTA Managing Director, Ronnie Hakim, said:

“The R211s will be a welcome addition to New York City Transit’s next-generation fleet. As both the R160 and R188 subway cars produced by Kawasaki have proven to be some of the most reliable in their class, we look forward to working with Kawasaki on the production of these cars”

Delivery of new cars for testing will begin in 2020. The base contract for the new R211 cars was approved after a competitive procurement process involving bidders from around the world. The cars will be built and tested in Kawasaki facilities in Yonkers, N.Y. and Lincoln, Neb. Kawasaki, along with its subcontractors, has committed to provide approximately 470 U.S. jobs for the base award with a total estimated value of $125 million. If both options are exercised, the total potential value of U.S. jobs from this contract is estimated to be $270 million.

Original article © MTA.

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