NEW YORK — New York’s first batch of “open gangway” subway cars — those with accordion-style connections, rather than doors between cars, making it easy to walk from car to car — will not be able to operate on some express lines because their design creates a conflict with New York City Transit operating rules, the website Gothamist reports.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority included 20 of the open-gangway R211T cars as part of its larger order of 535 cars built by Kawasaki, and could get another 437 of the open-gangway cars as part of a subsequent 640-car order [see “MTA provides first look …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 6, 2023]. They were originally intended to run on the A and C lines (8th Avenue express and local) between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
But an MTA memo obtained by Gothamist says the design of the new cars “makes it impossible” for operators to perform a required safety inspection following activation of the train’s emergency brakes. MTA rules require operators to inspect both sides of the track in case of an activation of the emergency brakes; if that is not possible, as is the case on some express tracks, the operator must check the tracks between each car. This is easily done on conventional cars, but not possible on the open-gangway cars. As a result, the two 10-car trainsets of the new equipment will operate on the local C line when they enter service. That should happen “in the next week or so,” New York City Transit President Richard Davey said at a press conference last week.
Davey said the MTA “made a conscious decision” to operate the trains only on the C line, Gothamist reports: “You know, for a new car class, we just thought it was more prudent to have that car stopping at stations more frequently. Our A train customers are getting a lot of R211s, so we thought we would give a little love to our C train customers as well.”
