New York City Subway vehicles

The history of the New York City subway vehicles is as complicated as the New York subway itself. Since the subway opened on October 27, 1904, over 50 different types of vehicles have been in use on the New York subway routes . If you add all the series of elevated railroad cars that were already on the road before this date, you come across well over 100 different vehicle types.

overview

The New York City Subway has the largest subway fleet in the world with more than 6,200 passenger cars. Depending on the year of construction, type and area of ​​use, the wagons are on the road as solo or double railcars or permanently coupled to form four and five-car sets . The vehicles are operated electrically. The power is drawn from a conductor rail with 600 volts DC voltage , which is swept from above by pantographs attached to the bogies . The busbar itself is a simple railroad track that is shielded at the top with plastic planks to prevent accidents. The maximum design speed of the cars is currently 55 mph (88.5 km / h). However, there have already been designs with much higher speeds.

For historical reasons, the New York subway has two tunnel profiles. This is because today's route network was built up by three competing companies that operated their routes independently of each other. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) took the profile of their elevated railways as a yardstick, which roughly corresponded to the dimensions of trams . The other two companies, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) and its successor, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) and the Independent City Owned Rapid Transit Railroad of the City of New York itself, on the other hand, oriented themselves towards the much broader profile of conventional railways. In the course of the unification of the New York subway after 1940, the three initially independent subnetworks became two departments ( "divisions" ), which express the respective existing profile. The track width is 1435 mm on all routes.

Accordingly, two different types of vehicles are used in the subway. The narrow-profile types are under the name Division A summarizes the wide-profile types belong to Division B . Division A cars are 51 feet 0.5 inches (15.56 m) long and a maximum of 8 feet 10 inches (2.69 m) wide, and Division B cars are 60 feet 2.5 inches (18.35 m) ( or 75 feet in the case of the R44, R46 and R68 series) long and a maximum of 10 feet (3.05 m) wide. Also, Division A vehicles are 12 feet (3.66 m) lower than Division B by 2 inches or 5 cm. The floor height of each vehicle is approximately 3 feet 9 inches (1.14 m) above the rails. The Division A (lines 1 to 7) has approximately 2,800 cars Division B (lines A to Z) for about 3,400 cars.

The car body is made of stainless steel and, unlike in the past, is no longer painted in color. On the side of Division A there are three, and Division B four double-pocket sliding doors, which are always opened and closed centrally. At the front there is a sliding or hinged door in the middle as a transition option for staff. The driver's cab of a multiple unit is located to the side of this door in older models, but in newer vehicles it extends over the entire width of the car. In the case of younger vehicles with so-called "corner cabs" (R62, R68), the driver's cab areas at the ends of the train have been extended to the entire width. This became possible when the said series were put together permanently in fixed train sets of five or four cars. All of the cars are at the ends with anti-climbing ( anticlimbers provided), which simultaneously serve as a floor of the car transition. The wagon transition is additionally secured by scissor bars or rubber-coated steel chains.

As a rule, trains of ten wagons each are formed in both divisions, but these then have a correspondingly different length and transport capacity . Exceptions are:

• Use of 75-foot cars, which due to their length can only form a maximum of 8-car trains, but which are ultimately similar in length to normal 10-car trains
• the line group of the BMT (lines J / M / Z and L), formerly known as the "Eastern Division", with 8 cars, due to the shorter platform lengths in this subsystem
• line C with 8 cars
• Line G with 4 cars (75-foot car, corresponding to about 5 cars of the standard length)
• the 3 shuttle lines in the network with 2 to 4 cars each
• Line 7 with 11 cars, which therefore requires the use of additional single cars (for R62) or six-car trains (for R188)

IRT until 1940

Elevated Railway in Manhattan, 1896.

The oldest cars on the New York elevated and subway lines date back to 1872, when 16 non-powered cars were delivered for the Ninth Avenue Line of the New York Elevated Railroad . These Manhattan Elevated or Manhattan Standard were wooden four-axle passenger cars with open entrances at both ends that were pulled over the tracks by steam locomotives . Since the elevated routes could not take the heavy weight of normal locomotives, smaller tank locomotives were used. The wagons were also shorter and the width was more like trams .

With the expansion of the four routes along Manhattan's Second, Third, Sixth and Ninth Avenue , hundreds of more cars of roughly the same design were added. The large number of different types in the early years can be explained by a large number of smaller route extensions and a lack of standardization . In addition, at the beginning of the 20th century, no wagon builder in the United States would have had the necessary capacities to produce a large series for New York at once.

When the lines were electrified by busbars between 1900 and 1903 , some of the sidecars received traction motors and driver's cabs , and steam locomotives were no longer required. But otherwise, as with all subsequent deliveries, basically nothing changed in the design of the cars. It was not until 1923 that the open platforms were closed at the ends and central door control ( multiple-unit door control, MUDC ) was introduced.

For the railcars and sidecars for the new subway, the IRT based itself on the specifications of the elevated railways it had previously taken over. For safety reasons, however, only vehicles with a body made of riveted steel should be used. Since the wagon builders were unable to provide the necessary capacities at that time, an agreement was finally reached on railcars with a reinforced steel and wood structure, the composites . After a few near-disasters, however, it became clear that only steel vehicles would ensure safe operation in the tunnel. All subsequent series, starting with Gibbs and Deck Roof , now met these requirements. And from 1916 composites were only used on elevated railways.

Similar to the elevated railway, all subway cars initially only had a side entrance door at each end of the car body. But shortly after the opening of the first underground line, it turned out that the number of passengers had been significantly underestimated. A third door was installed in the middle of the car body in all cars from 1909 onwards. From the Hedley series onwards, all vehicles were delivered with this configuration, which remained unchanged for decades.

When in 1915 the Steinway tunnel was to be integrated into subway operations as part of the double contracts , one was faced with a problem. The previous cars would have fit into the tubes, but the tunnel ramps on both sides of the East River would have been too steep, so that a vehicle with gear reduction was necessary for this route . This type was named Steinway after its field of application .

The Steinways brought another innovation with them, which was known as "Low Voltage", "Lo (w) -V" or "LV". For the first time, these “ extra-low voltage cars ” had separate control electronics , which were fed by 36-volt batteries. One of the technical advantages was above all the significantly better acceleration thanks to the automatic shifting of the speed steps, which made it possible to “go full throttle” from a standing start. All vehicles delivered after 1915 were equipped with this low-voltage technology and were accordingly called LV . However, they were no longer compatible with the previous fleet, which was now given the nickname HV for "high voltage" or "high voltage" to distinguish it.

An exception was a series called LV-AMRE , which is actually only known by its nickname “Flivver” ( German meaning “ sheet metal box” ). When composites came onto the elevated railways in 1915, they were equipped with new, lighter bogies for weight reasons. The now redundant bogies with HV drive and brakes were installed under newly delivered car bodies. The electrical equipment was taken over from the LV, so that these cars could not be operated with either of these two other types. In addition, there was the fact that the Flivver trains encountered inexplicable technical problems during operation if they were not always coupled to specific trains.

• IRT vehicles
• 

  Drawing of the composite car.

• 

  Low-V in the Transport Museum .

• 

  Interior of a Low-V.

After the completion of the last sections of the line from the double contracts in the early 1920s, there were initially no more new purchases. It was not until the planned amplifier trains for the New York World's Fair in 1939 in Flushing Meadows Park that a new railcar was developed together with the Independent. Outwardly it had some new features such as a changed door arrangement and arched roof, but could at the same time be coupled with the existing Steinways. This type of vehicle also bore the name of its location, World's Fair .

IRT cars, years of construction until 1940
Type designation	Manufacturer	number	Vehicle numbers	Indienst- position	training muster	Remarks
Manhattan Elevated / Manhattan Standard	(various)	2057	1-1812	1872-1911	1921-56	a total of 28 series as railcars or sidecars for the elevated railway, of which 36 semi-open cars, several car numbers assigned several times over the course of time
Q	(Self-made)	90	1600-1629	1950	1956	"Borrowed" BMT Q three each numbered as 'A', 'B' and 'C'
Composite samples	Wason	2	3340, 3341	1902	after 1917	Composite prototypes
Composite multiple units	Jewett , St. Louis Car , Wason	160	2000-2159	1903-04	1930-50	Steel-wood structure
Composite sidecar	Jewett, J. Stephenson, St. Louis Car , Wason	340	3000-3339	1903-04	1930-50	Steel-wood structure
Steel car sample	Pennsylvania Railroad	1	3342	1903	1904	Prototype with all-steel car body
Mineola	Wason	1	3344	1904	1919	Belmont's private car; Panoramic window
Gibbs	American Car & Foundry	300	3350-3649	1904-05	until 1959
Deck roof	American Car & Foundry	50	3650-3699	1907-08	until 1959
Hedley	American Car & Foundry , Pressed Steel Car , Standard Steel Car	325	3700-4024	1910-11	until 1959	first car with final IRT standard body
Steinway	Pressed steel car	12	4025-4036	1915	after 1958	first course, reduction
LV-AMRE ("Flivver")	Pullman Pullman	124 54	4037-4160 4161-4214	1915	1962	Hedley superstructures with old composite chassis
Steinway	Pullman Pullman	8 22	4215-4222 4555-4576	1915 1916	1958	Hedley superstructures with old composite chassis
HV sidecar	Pullman	292	4223-4514	1915	until 1959	Hedley superstructures with old composite chassis
LV railcar	Pullman Pullman American Car & Foundry American Car & Foundry	39 337 100 125	4772-4810 4966-5302 5403-5502 5503-5627	1916 1917 1924 1925	1964 1964  (?) 1964 1964  (?)
LV sidecar	Pullman Pullman Pullman	15 140 100	4811-4825 4826-4965 5303-5402	1916 1917 1922	1964 1964  (?) 1964  (?)
LV Steinway	Pullman American Car & Foundry	71 25	4700-4771 5628-5652	1916 1925	1964  (?) 1964  (?)
World's Fair	St. Louis Car	50	5653-5702	1938	1969

BRT / BMT until 1940

The elevated railway cars used by the BRT and its predecessor companies were very similar to those of the IRT. Here, too, wagons with a wooden structure and open platforms at the end of the wagon were used, which were converted to electrical operation with power rails around 1900 . The ground-level routes of the suburban railways towards the Atlantic coast, on the other hand, were provided with overhead lines for safety reasons , so that the vehicles were additionally equipped with pantographs for continuous operation. In addition, steps were attached to the entrances as there were no elevated platforms outside the elevated railways .

When the BRT planned its first underground lines in the decade after 1900, it decided on a broader profile . The corresponding vehicle was wide (3.05 m) of ten feet and 67 feet (20.42 m) long Type  B . In terms of acceleration, driving comfort and capacity, it was far superior to the vehicles of the elevated railways and the IRT. The car body was made entirely of riveted steel, and the doors were evenly distributed over the length of the vehicle and could be controlled centrally . Between 1914 and 1924 a total of 950 such vehicles were purchased. Because of their high number, they are still called “standards” today. In the workshops, the nickname "Steels" ( " Steels " ) kept. From 1921 the vehicles were coupled to three-part multiple units and converted to conductors-less operation.

In the 1920s, the BMT wanted to introduce more comfort and more modern technology on the old elevated railways. However, the standards on these routes would have been too heavy and the curves too tight, so that the modernization of old elevated railway cars began. The first result of these efforts was the type C three-car multiple unit  , which, in addition to central door control, also received widened entry strips ("flower boards") so that its width corresponded to the subway profile. At the same time, some elevated railway sections were converted to this wider profile by cutting the platform edges. For the 1939 World's Fair, a further 116 cars were converted to the Type Q in a similar manner  . However, these were intended for use on the narrow-profile Flushing Line and therefore did not require any "attachments" that they only received in 1958 for use on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line .

In the long term, BMT wanted to upgrade all of its elevated railway lines to the underground standard. This already happened in the course of the double contracts on some sections that were connected to the new tunnels. But the elevated railway cars were still driving there because the curves were too tight for the standards. When, after the Malbone Street Wreck in 1918, vehicles with wooden bodies were no longer allowed to run in subway tunnels, the Type D , a 120-foot-long eight-axle double articulated multiple unit with a steel car body , was developed specifically for such routes  . This guy was the first to receive target signs on the front of the car above the windows.

• BRT / BMT vehicles
• 

  BU car.

• 

  BRT A / B standard.

• 

  BMT Q.

After it turned out that the financial means for the reinforcement of the supporting structure on all elevated railway lines would not be sufficient in the long term, the BMT began developing lighter vehicles with a wide profile and car bodies made of sheet metal. After testing two prototypes, the Green Hornet and the Zephyr , 25 five-part articulated multiple units of the MS type were finally purchased.

In 1938 another double articulated multiple unit was tested, the Compartment . It was based on the new PCC technology for trams, which was developed by the tram subsidiary of BMT, the Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation . By transferring this technology to the subway, the BMT expected considerable cost savings through synergy effects in the maintenance of subway and tram cars. Because of its blue paint , it was nicknamed "Bluebird", "Hüttensänger", a blue species of bird .

The unification of the U-Bahn in 1940 primarily resulted in standardization of the BMT Division's rolling stock . With the exception of types A / B and D, all vehicles were retired within 20 years. Only the type Q was still in use until the closure of the last old elevated railway in 1969.

BRT / BMT cars, years of construction until 1940
Type designation	Manufacturer	number	Car numbers	Indienst- position	training muster	Remarks
BU car	(various)	932	1-1482	1884-1914	1924-62	A total of 17 series as railcars or sidecars for the elevated railway, including 220 convertible cars
B (2000s)	American Car & Foundry	400	2000-2399	1914-17	1961-65	so-called “ Steels” or “BMT A / B Standard” 2000–2899 solo railcars, 4000–4049 sidecars
B , BT , BX (2400s)	American Car & Foundry	100	2400-2499	1918	1969
B (2500)	American Car & Foundry	100	2500-2599	1919	1967-69
A , B	Pressed steel car	300	2600-2749 2750-2899	1920-22	1965-69
AX , BX	Pressed steel car	50	4000-4044, 4045-4049	1924	1960
C.	(Self-made)	6th		1923-25	1955-57	Conversions from BU wagons with extensions; Prototypes
C.	(Self-made)	75		1925	1955-57	Conversions from BU wagons with extensions
Q	(Self-made)	90	1600-1629	1938-41	1958/70	Conversions from BU wagons without extensions , three each numbered as 'A', 'B' and 'C'
QX	(Self-made)	26th	1630-1642	1939-40	1951-59	Conversions from BU wagons without extensions, numbered in pairs as 'A' and 'B'
D (triplex)	Pressed steel car	121	6000-6120	1925-28	1965	Double articulated railcar
MS (Green Hornet)	Pullman standard	1	7003	1934	1942	Articulated railcar prototype
MS (Zephyr)	Budd	1	7029	1934	1954	Articulated railcar prototype
MS ("Multi")	Pullman Standard , St. Louis Car	25th	7004-7028	1936	1961	Articulated railcar
Compartment ("Bluebird")	Clark Car	6th	8000-8005	1938/40	1956	based on PCC technology
SIRT	Standard Steel	25th	2900-2924	1925-26	1961	1953-54 by the SIRT purchased

IND until 1940

The Independent Subway also developed its own vehicles. They should have the profile and technology of the BMT standards and be as modern, functional, economical and above all standardized as possible . The wagons were 60 feet and six inches (18.44 m) long. A reduced number of seats and four double pocket sliding doors on each side should ensure the highest possible capacity and fast passenger changes. The length of the platforms was accordingly a little over 600 feet (182.88 m), which corresponded to ten of these cars and three times three BMT standards or five BMT Ds.

The first series of 300 solo multiple units was commissioned from American Car & Foundry under contract R1 . By 1940, a total of 1,703 such cars were delivered by various companies under the contracts R1 , R4 , R6 , R7 , R7A and R9 , although they did not differ from one another except for a few mostly cosmetic changes. This first-generation Independent vehicle, also known as the R1-9 , proved to be extremely reliable and remained in service until the 1970s. Essential elements of the design and technology of these cars, especially the door arrangement, remained for a long time and in some cases to this day.

• Independent vehicles
• 

  The first R1 with the number 100.

• 

  R4 in the museum.

The meaning of the 'R' in the type designations is no longer known today and therefore leads to a lot of speculation. The statement that the letter R 'as an abbreviation for rolling stock ( German: rolling stock ) would be, is most likely because most R-contracts the purchase of railcars, locomotives have motorcycles and special vehicles to the object. Doubts about this theory are mainly attributable to the purchase of heavy workshop equipment under R-contracts.

Subway fans, at least in NYC, call all R1-R9 vehicles taken together as Arnines .

Independent car, built until 1940
Delivery contract	Manufacturer	number	Vehicle numbers	Indienst- position	training muster	Remarks
R1 (R1 / R2)	American Car & Foundry	300	100-399	1930-31	1969-77	Car bodies ran under R1, bogies under R2
R4	American Car & Foundry	500	400-899	1932-33	1969-77
R6	American Car & Foundry , Pressed Steel Car , Pullman Standard	500	900-1399	1935-36	1969-77
R7 / R7A	American Car & Foundry , Pullman Standard	150/100	1400-1649	1937-38	until 1977	an R7A converted into an R10 prototype in 1946
R9	American Car & Foundry , Pressed Steel Car	153	1650-1802	1940	until 1977

Vehicles from after 1940

2nd generation vehicles - 1940 to 1967

After the unification of the New York subway in 1940, all new acquisitions were subject to the standardization of the rolling stock according to the specifications of the Independent. All vehicles delivered from now on should be compatible with each other in terms of clutch , door control and control of drive and brakes. To date, a total of 18 narrow-profile and 20 wide-profile vehicle series have been delivered, initially exclusively as single multiple units.

The first representative of this new, second generation vehicle was the R10 , with which some innovations such as regenerative brakes and neon tubes were introduced in the vehicle interior. In addition, four instead of two traction motors per car were standard from now on . This technology was first introduced in the IRT Division with the types R12 and R14 , whereby the vehicles were adapted to the narrower profile. The most important external feature of Division A was and has remained the number of doors per side, which has been reduced by one compared to Division B.

With every new acquisition, one or the other innovation was added, but basically the vehicles of the second generation hardly differed from one another. For example, the arched roof was introduced with the R15 . Inside, the rattan seats previously used gave way to upholstery made of synthetic leather, which was later replaced by hard plastic. There were also various changes to the brakes, door mechanics, handles , lighting and windows.

In 1959, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) turned to the principle of the double multiple unit for the first time, which allowed weight and maintenance to be reduced because certain parts of the technical equipment only had to be present in every second car. The first series of this type, R26 / R28 and R27 / R30 / R30A , however, still had a conventional clutch in the middle, so that vehicles could be exchanged with one another. This technical quirk was derisively referred to as " bigamy " or " Protestantism ". Only the R29 and all later double railcars were connected with a close coupling .

Another special feature of the second generation vehicles was their very different color scheme. The types R10 , R12 and R14 were painted light gray / dark gray, the R15 burgundy red with beige stripes and the R17 only burgundy red. From the R16 to the R30 , all cars were then delivered in dark olive green. The series R29 , R33 and R36 were held either as “Mainline” ( ML ) in scarlet red or as “World's Fair” ( WF ) for the trips to the 1964 World Exhibition in light blue / light gray. And the first vehicles with car bodies made of stainless steel , R32 and R38 , shone so brightly silvery that they were nicknamed "Brightliners" (compare German " Silberlinge "). After the New York subway was incorporated into the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the vehicles were gradually repainted in silver / dark blue in accordance with the corporate design .

• Second generation vehicles
• 

  An R7A in the Transport Museum .

• 

  In the course of time, different colors were used, as here on the R15.

• 

  Inside view of an R17.

• 

  R36ML in blue / silver, the company colors of the MTA.

• 

  The trains for the 1964 World's Fair were given a special color scheme.

• 

  R33ML as "Redbird" on line 5.

• 

  The type R16.

3rd generation vehicles - 1968 to 1989

From today's perspective, the transition to a third generation of vehicles began with the retirement of the last BMT standards and the first R1 cars. They had a car body made of stainless steel with a bulbous side wall, a new type of front made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic , panoramic windows and air conditioning , as had been standard for several years with US railroad companies . The target signs moved from the front edge of the roof into the left windshield. The R40 and R42 series can be regarded as the first typical representatives of this generation.

According to the plans of the MTA, a completely new generation of vehicles should be introduced parallel to the action program of 1968 with the R44 and R46 , which should no longer be compatible with the cars previously used. Outwardly, the vehicles resembled the R42, but at 75 feet (22.86 m) they were considerably longer than the previous 60-foot cars and each firmly coupled to four-car sets, making the total length of a multiple unit that of a previous five -Wagon train corresponded. Both series came with the most modern electronics for brakes, clutches, drives, air conditioning and door controls. They were also prepared for the use of Automatic Train Control (ATC ), which was to be used in the new Second Avenue Subway .

However, these new vehicles created great problems. They were extremely unwieldy for maintenance and operation and made for longer staying times in the stations because fewer doors were available than before over the length of a train. The electronics were found to be unreliable and were largely replaced by conventional technology in the 1980s. The mechanics of the R46 proved to be too weak for this, which manifested itself in broken bogies and high wear on load-bearing parts, which is why almost the entire R46 fleet was temporarily shut down at the end of the 1970s.

These problems resulted in a complete departure from “modern technology”. But during the crisis of the 1970s, new acquisitions were out of the question anyway. When the financial leeway grew again at the beginning of the 1980s, the poor condition of the existing cars was initially addressed. About 3,000 cars were overhauled and received next to air conditioning and various new parts all red paint on them the nickname "Redbirds" ( "Rotvögel") earned. The only new acquisitions from this time were the types R62 and R68 , which, except for the combination of sets, still represented the state of the art of the R10 from 1948. These vehicles were ordered from Bombardier and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and for the first time from manufacturers based outside the USA.

• Third generation vehicles
• 

  The type R40 with its distinctive sloping front.

• 

  The type R42.

• 

  The types R44 and R46 are significantly longer than their predecessors.

• 

  The same applies to the R68, which were procured in the 1980s.

• 

  The type R62 came from Japan for the first time and, apart from the much smaller car body, is very similar to the R68.

4th generation vehicles - 1990 to today

It was not until the 1990s that the MTA ventured back to vehicles with modern equipment. But now any innovations should first be thoroughly tested on two prototypes before series production . The first series production vehicles of this fourth generation of subway cars, types R142 / R142A (Division A) and R143 (Division B), were delivered from 1999 to 2004 and have fully electronic controls, three-phase drive and air suspension . Since spring 2005, the LZB -Pendant Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) has been tested with the R143 vehicles on the BMT Canarsie Line , which is to be used across the board by 2050.

Since narrow-profile line 7 is also being rebuilt for this purpose and CBTC operation with old construction vehicles is not planned, line 7 was completely converted to the R142 and R188 series by 2018. The R188 series is essentially an already existing R142, which has been expanded from five to six cars in order to be able to form the 11-car trains usual on the 7; some R188 were also completely rebuilt between 2011 and 2016.

In order to be able to replace the vehicles of Division B of the types R32, R38, R40 and R42 (years of construction 1964–1970), which reached the end of their service life in the new millennium, the MTA ordered a first series of 660 cars of the new type R160 in July 2002, which is largely based on the R143 type. The order was again awarded to two manufacturers (like a few years earlier for the R142), this time to Alstom (type R160A, 400 cars) and Kawasaki (type R160B, 260 cars). The delivery of the 660 ordered cars began in 2006 and was completed in 2008. On August 17, 2006, an R160 wagon train was in service on line N for the first time. While the delivery of this first series was still in progress, the MTA ordered a further 620 type R160 wagons in July 2007, increasing the number of firmly ordered R160s to 1,280. These 620 cars were in delivery in December 2008, of which around 150 had already been delivered.

As part of the 2008-2013 Capital Program , the MTA planned in 2008 to order 382 additional R160 cars. These plans were only partially implemented: Construction of the R160 was completed in 2010, and today 1,662 cars of this type are in use. The types R32 to R42 were to be retired first, but at the end of the 2000s severe fatigue damage was found on the R44 car bodies, which is why the retirement of the R32 and R42 was canceled (R38 and R40 were no longer in use at this point) and given priority until 2010 all R44 were retired. In 2016, more than a third of all R32s and some R42s were still in use.

Between 2016 and 2019, an additional 318 cars of the new type R179 were delivered, which is technically similar to the type R160 and outwardly almost identical. Originally these wagons were supposed to be 75 feet long again, this was later changed back to 60 feet. With the R179, the last R42 and probably some R46 should be retired. Another 64 new wagons were planned for the Staten Island Railway, which is currently served by modified R44 wagons. However, this plan was dropped and postponed, the remaining R44s (which are not as badly damaged as the other R44s due to their use on the quieter Staten Island Railway) were upgraded for further years of service in the 207th Street Yard in Manhattan. The R179s were delivered several years late and had to struggle with many initial problems; they have been in use on lines J and Z since November 19, 2017.

The plan was to start taking the R42 out of service immediately at the same time as the start of the R179, as the R42 sometimes had serious damage to the car bodies and are often only poorly repaired with duct tape. This was initially postponed, as a planned month-long tunnel closure of Line L would have increased the vehicle requirements of the other lines significantly. However, this blockage was ultimately discarded and the R42 was used for the last time on February 12, 2020, after the remaining railcars had actually been phased out in December 2019, but had to return to use again in January 2020 due to door problems with the R179. After initially planning to keep the 111 remaining R32 double multiple units as a reserve, it was decided at the beginning of 2020 to retire these vehicles now - after more than 55 years. In March 2020, 29 R32s are still in use, and they too will presumably retire from operation in the course of 2020.

The procurement of a completely new wide-profile series, the type R211, has been planned since 2013. The order should include between 1,025 and 1,545 individual wagons, depending on whether different options are redeemed or canceled. The series is to consist of three series: The R211A is to become the standard vehicle and is expected to replace all of the R32 and R46 that have remained until then as well as to increase the vehicle population, while the R211S is planned from the outset for use on the Staten Island Railway and the last there R44 will replace. With the R211T, of which only 10 railcars will initially be ordered, the concept of articulated vehicles is to be tested (again), which has not been used in New York for decades. If the R211T prove themselves, there is the possibility of purchasing only R211T in the other delivery options. The tender to build the first series was won by Kawasaki Heavy Industries . The construction of test models has already started and there is no date for delivery.

Even in the small profile, plans for a new vehicle type have been underway since 2019, which will be named R262 and will replace the R62 in the 2020s, which will then be around 40 years old. As with the R211, there will also be trains with continuous articulated connections, and the trains will also be equipped for the new CBTC signaling technology . Approx. 1500 cars are to be delivered from 2024, a manufacturer is not yet known.

• Fourth generation vehicles
• 

  The type R142A.

• 

  The type R160.

• 

  Interior of the type R142A.

Narrow-profile car, built after 1940
Delivery contract	Manufacturer	number	Vehicle numbers	Indienst- position	over- HOLUNG	training muster	Remarks
R12	American Car & Foundry	100	5703-5802	1948	-	1981
R14	American Car & Foundry	150	5803-5952	1949	-	1984
R15	American Car & Foundry	100	5953-5999, 6200-6252	1950	-	1984	first car with "the" arched roof
R17 / R21 / R22	St. Louis Car	400/250/450	6500-6899, 7050-7749	1955-58	-	1987-88
R26 / R28	American Car & Foundry	110/100	7750-7959	1959-61	1985-87	2001-02	later "Redbirds"
R29	St. Louis Car	236	8570-8805	1962-63	1985-87	1993	later "Redbirds"
R33	St. Louis Car	500	8806-9305	1963-64	1986-91	2003	later "Redbirds"
R33S / R36WF / R36ML	St. Louis Car	40/390/34	9306-9769	1963-64	1982-85	2003	later "Redbirds", several cars still in use today as work vehicles, often in the last operational state
R62 / R62A	Kawasaki Heavy Industries / Bombardier	325/825	1301-1625 / 1651-2475	1983-87	-	in action	R62 first imported from Japan
R110A  ( R130 )	Kawasaki Heavy Industries	10	8001-8010	1992	-	1998	Fourth generation prototype; Drafts under R110A, delivery under R130, most of the individual wagons 2013/2014 converted to work vehicles for pumping out full tunnels
R142 / R142A	Bombardier / Kawasaki Heavy Industries	1030/600	6301-7180 ​​/ 7591-7610	2000-04	-	in action	7211-7590 converted to R188
R188	Kawasaki Heavy Industries	506	7211–7590 / 7811-7898 / 7899-7636	2011–16	-	in action	7211-7590 converted from R142A
R262	not yet known	1500 (planned)	not yet known	from 2024 (planned)	-	-	-
Wide profile car, built after 1940
Delivery contract	Manufacturer	number	Vehicle numbers	Indienst- position	over- HOLUNG	training muster	Remarks
R10	American Car & Foundry	400	2950-3349	1948-49	-	1989
R11 / R34	Budd	10	8010-8019	1949	1964-65	1980	Second generation prototype made of stainless steel obsolete referred to as R34
R16	American Car & Foundry	200	6300-6499	1954-55	-	1978-87
R27 / R30 / R30A	St. Louis Car	230/260/60	8020-8569	1960-62	1985-86	1991-93	later "Redbirds"
R32 / R32A	Budd	300/300	3350-3949	1964-65	1988-90	in action	first series car made of stainless steel, subdivided into "R32" and "R32A", was discontinued after a general overhaul Retirement began in 2008, but has been paused since production of the R160 ended in 2010
R38	St. Louis Car	200	3950-4149	1966-67	1987-88	2009	4140-4149 equipped with air conditioning on a trial basis
R40 / R40A	St. Louis Car	200/200	4150-4549	1968-69	1987-89	2009	300 first-delivered cars with a sloping front; 100 cars last delivered with a straight front, identical to the R42; 200 last-delivered cars with air conditioning (designated as R40A for air condition , 100 of them with angled front and 100 with a straight front)
R42	St. Louis Car	400	4550-4949	1969-70	1988-89	2020	First series delivered completely with air conditioning from the factory The decommissioning started in 2008 was paused in 2010, 25 railcars were left as operating reserves - the end of service was finally on February 12, 2020
R44 / R44SI	St. Louis Car	300	5202-5479 (100-399)	1971-73	1991-92	2010 (R44), in use (R44SI)	Length 75  feet ; ATO; 64 cars modified and designated as R44SI for the Staten Island Railway
R46	Pullman standard	754	5482-6258 (500-1278)	1975-78	1990-91	in action	Length 75  feet ; ATO does not assign all numbers consecutively
R68 / R68A	Westinghouse - Amrail / Kawasaki Heavy Industries	425/200	2500-2924 / 5001-5200	1986-89	-	in action	Length 75  feet
R110B  ( R131 )	Bombardier	9	3001-3009	1992-93	-	2000	Fourth generation prototype; Drafts under R110B, supplied under R131
R143	Kawasaki Heavy Industries	212	8101-8312	2001-02	-	in action
R160A / R160B	Alstom / Kawasaki Heavy Industries	1002/660	8313-9942	2006-10	-	in action	Ordering of a further 382 cars ( option order 2 ) was planned but was discarded due to budget cuts
R179	Bombardier	318	3010-3327	2016–19	-	in action	Length 60 feet ; originally planned to be 75 feet; Order for 64 wagons for the Staten Island Railway canceled. Order initially increased from 208 to 290, then later to 318 cars
R211	Kawasaki Heavy Industries	(285)	still unclear	since 2019	-	not yet in delivery	Delivery planned in three series: R211A for the normal replacement of old vehicles and increasing the vehicle reserve, R211S for use on Staten Island and R211T for testing articulated connections; Car numbers and manufacturers not yet known

Line use of the vehicles

Each line of the New York Subway is typically served by only one type of vehicle or by largely identical vehicle types (e.g. R143, R160 and R179). Between 2005 and 2010, due to the growing number of new vehicles of the R160 type and the associated retirement or relocation of old vehicles to other lines, there were a few lines in Division B that are served by different vehicle types at the same time.

Only types R62, R142 and R188 are used on the narrow profile lines of Division A (lines 1 to 7). The R62 usually runs on lines 1, 3, 6 and the 42nd Street Shuttle, the R142 on lines 2, 4, 5 and 7 and the R188 only on line 7.

On the wide-profile lines of Division B (lines A to Z), however, a total of seven production series are currently in service. The oldest vehicles of the type R32 are still used on lines A and C. Lines A and R are almost exclusively used by R46, some circuits on lines F and G are also R46 services. Since December, the R46 on lines F and R have been shifted to lines N and W, the reason for this being preparations for converting the IND Queens Boulevard Line to CBTC . R68 are currently mainly used on lines B, D, G, N and W as well as the Franklin Avenue Shuttle, there is also an evening amplifier ride with R68 on line A. Due to their CBTC equipment, the R143s are mainly used on line L, which uses this technology, but there are also trips on lines J and Z. The vehicles of type R160 run on lines C, E, J, L, M, N, Q, W and Z; the latest generation R179 is used on lines A, J and Z.

Between 2011 and 2014 there was a regular exchange of vehicles on lines A and C in the summer, so that the R46 was used on line C and the R32 primarily on line A. The reason for this was an age-related accumulation of malfunctions in the air conditioning systems of the R32, so these often failed if they were used too long exclusively in the hot tunnels (line C does not have a single above-ground section). The units were able to cool down by driving the above-ground routes on Line A in Brooklyn and on the IND Rockaway Line. In 2014, extensive repairs to all R32 were able to remedy this problem, so that vehicle use generally remained the same even in summer. From December 2017, line C was operated again with R46 (parallel to the R160) in order to increase capacity - due to their fixed compositions, the R46 can be operated almost exclusively as 4 or 8-car trains, which means the maximum train length of 600 feet is reached. The released R32s have since been used again together with the R46 on Line A. In 2019, however, the R46 were withdrawn from line C.

literature

• Brian J. Cudahy: Under the Sidewalks of New York: the story of the greatest subway system in the world . Second revised edition. Fordham University Press, New York 1995. ISBN 0-8232-1618-7 . (English, is considered a "standard work" on the New York subway)
• Gene Sansone: New York Subways: an illustrated history of New York City's transit cars . Centennial edition. Johns Hopkins University Press , Baltimore 2004. ISBN 0-8018-7922-1 . (English, only covers rolling stock of the New York subway)

Web links

Commons : New York City Subway  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the subway operator MTA (English, with automatic translation)
• nycsubway.org (Very comprehensive private site about the New York subway with pictures and technical descriptions, English)
• Railfanwindow.com (Private site with photos of the New York subway, English)
• SubwayNut (private site about the New York subway, mostly photos, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ There are no series according to German understanding in the United States. Therefore this term is deliberately avoided.
2. ↑ MTA Capital Program 2008–2013 ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Page 28  
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} upon delivery
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Counting method per wagon
5. ↑ to 1937 number 7000A-8000B-9000C-8001B-7001A
6. ↑ until 1937 number 7002A-8002B-9001C-8003B-7003A
7. ↑ almost complete list of R-contracts (English)
8. ↑ MTA press release of July 31, 2002
9. ^ Article in the New York Times, August 18, 2006
10. ↑ New York Times article, July 24, 2007
11. ↑ ^{a b c} MTA Capital Program 2008–2013 ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Chapter New Cars on page 28  
12. ↑ only 162 cars and in a comparatively small size
13. ↑ ^{a b} numbering changed in the course of the general overhaul; Numbers in brackets indicate original numbering; Differences due to decommissioning of individual cars