New subway cars have hit the tracks of the Staten Island Railway for the first time in over 50 years. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on Tuesday launched new cutting-edge R211S subway cars into service that feature wider doors, security cameras, digital route screens in all cars, and enhanced accessibility features. To celebrate the new cars, MTA officials and commuters took an inaugural ride from St. George Terminal.
The cars are part of a 535-car order, which includes 440 R221A standard cars, 75 SIR cars, and 20 cars with open gangway features.
As part of the MTA’s modernization efforts for the subway system, the cars feature 58-inch-wide door openings—eight inches wider than standard door openings on existing cars. This design aims to speed up boarding and reduce the amount of time trains idle in stations.
The new cars are also six times more reliable than those in the current fleet, capable of traveling an average of 240,000 miles between replacements and major repairs.
“These beautiful new train cars are a major investment in transit on Staten Island,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “Between the train and the 56 bus routes, we take great pride in the service the team delivers to help make Staten Island a great place to live.”
The current fleet of cars on the SIR are R44s, which debuted on the railway in 1973 after being launched in the subway the previous year.
In 2018, the MTA announced a contract with Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc. to manufacture 535 R211 cars. Due to pandemic-related delays, the first fleet of new cars arrived in the five boroughs for testing in July 2021.
The MTA Board in October 2022 voted to approve an order for 640 additional R211 cars, bringing the total number of R211 cars to 1,175. The second set of new cars is expected to be delivered in early 2025.
Last fall, nearly all of the subway system’s fleet of R211 train cars were taken out of service due to malfunctioning gearboxes which caused the car’s wheels to lock up, drag along the tracks, and flatten, as first reported by Gothamist. The cars were put back in service a few weeks after repairs.
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