New York Metropolis’s latest prepare mannequin was unveiled in Brooklyn Thursday — and the sooner automobiles will present a “dramatic improve” to subway providers throughout town, the MTA vowed.
The R211s, inbuilt Nebraska by Japanese producer Kawasaki, will change the 46-year-old R46 mannequin in 2022, officers mentioned.
The brand new automotive comes outfitted with trendy sign tech that the MTA says permits sooner prepare service.
“This can be a dramatic improve to our capacity to essentially service New Yorkers with extra capability and extra trains,” MTA exec Janno Lieber mentioned, earlier than he and New York Metropolis Transit Authority officers whisked the automobiles off to a railyard in Coney Island for testing.
However the R211’s pace advantages don’t simply come from indicators, mentioned Demetrius Crichlow, appearing vice chairman for subways. Wider doorways may scale back the period of time trains spend stopped at stations by 25 or 30 %.
“That may pace up time getting on and off the prepare,” Crichlow mentioned. “You gained’t have to attend for some time whilst you’re boarding.”
The prepare’s exterior has a daring blue streak subsequent to a parallel yellow-black line. The entrance face is totally blue, with a display screen to inform riders the prepare’s vacation spot.
Keith Sylvan, 18, of the Higher West Aspect, stood outdoors the fence at Thursday’s occasion with a few dozen different rail followers. He advised The Submit he’d been following the R211’s improvement since design planning started 9 years in the past.
“They give the impression of being virtually futuristic,” Sylvan mentioned. “They seem like one thing straight out of the twenty first century.”
The $1.4 billion order additionally consists of 20 “open gangway” trains, during which all of the automobiles are linked through one lengthy passage.
“They give the impression of being virtually futuristic … like one thing straight out of the twenty first century.”
Keith Sylvan, 18, of the Higher West Aspect
Officers have the choice to buy 1,600 extra if the primary 535-car batch works out.
The authority’s most up-to-date subway automotive order has been affected by mechanical deficiencies — together with one scary snafu during which a prepare’s doorways remained open 4 inches between stations.
