MTA’s new R211 cars when they first hit the rails in Brooklyn for testing on July 1, 2021.
Marc Hermann / MTA
NYC straphangers will be treated to more new subway cars starting in the new year, according to the MTA’s 2025-2029 capital plan.
MTA officials said that starting in 2025, the MTA will begin phasing out thousands of railcars that are at least 40 years old to replace them with newer train cars, such as the R211, which provide better accessibility, more passenger amenities, and fewer failures.
Many subway cars still in use today are from the days of the first-ever MTA capital program that implemented investments to save regional transit from collapse.
“Today, those subway cars that played such a big role in the system’s revival are 40 years old, and it’s time to retire them,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber wrote in the capital plan, which the agency’s board approved on Sept. 25. State lawmakers, however, must still approve final funding in the capital plan in the new legislative session, which begins in January.
With a budget of $10.9 billion, the MTA will order 1,500 subway cars, which would replace approximately 22% of the fleet.
The new railcars set to roll into stations citywide will replace the R62 cars from 1984 that primarily operate on the 1, 3, and 6 lines, as well as the R68 cars from 1986, as seen on the B, D, N and W lines.
The new cars will feature wider entrances, brighter lighting, additional digital signage and security cameras.
However, it is not all about the extra amenities. MTA officials say the older train cars “are nearing the end of their useful life” and fail about six times more often than new cars that are used within the transit system.
Additionally, the new trains will be compatible with modern signaling, another priority project for the agency’s capital plan.
The MTA has already implemented the new R211 subway cars into some train lines around the city, including the 14-mile Staten Island Railway (SIR) track.
On Oct. 8, MTA officials rode on the R211S, specially designed for the SIR, which is an almost completely outdoor train. It replaced the R44, the oldest cars in the entire MTA stock that have graced Staten Island since 1973.
The R211 train has also run on the A line since March of this year. An open-gangway version that has more open space has run on the C line since February.
Trips to the suburbs will also improve, as the capital plan calls for more than 500 new railcars for Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road lines.
The fresh cars will be fully ADA-accessible and feature new amenities including wider seats and electrical outlets, per the MTA.
