NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Friday provided a first look at a pair of the 20 open-gangway cars in its order for R211 subway cars, part of an overall order of 535 of the New York City Transit cars under construction by Kawasaki Rail Car Inc.
The open-gangway cars, designated as R211T cars, feature soft, accordion-like connections, a design more common with light rail equipment. They are being tried in a pilot program. Those cars, like the rest of the order, also includes features like 58-inch-wide-doors, 8 inches wider than the current standard, to speed up boarding and disembarking.
“Wider doors and additional accessible seating will drastically improve the experience for all riders and particularly those with disabilities,” MTA Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo said in a press release. “Open-gangway pilot cars will also allow customers with mobility devices or strollers the ability to move through a train like never before, and I’m excited to try out these new cars.”
The trains operated on a test run on Friday for MTA officials including CEO Janno Lieber.
In October 2022, the MTA board approved an order of an additional 640 of the R211 cars [see “New York set to order …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 25, 2022]. If testing of the initial group of open-gangway cars is successful, there is an option for another 437 cars that could include the open-gangway design.
The first of the standard-design R211 cars arrived in July 2021; their testing continues, with the first expected to enter service this spring. The open-gangway cars are expected to enter service in the fourth quarter of 2023.
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