STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Staten Island Railway has received its first new railcars in 50 years, with five of the R211 subway cars designated for service on the borough’s transit line unveiled at the railway’s Clifton Maintenance Shop after delivery in a series of nighttime moves.
The cars were moved overnight by flatbed trucks across the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge from Brooklyn. They are expected to enter service in early 2024, and will eventually replace the R44 cars introduced in 1973.
“For the first time in 50 years, brand new, faster, cleaner and safer trains are coming to Staten Island,” New York City Transit President Richard Davey said in a press release. “These new, top-of-the-line R211 cars feature security cameras and digital displays, along with wider doorways that will help speed up boarding times and run more reliable service. I look forward to delivering Staten Island Railway customers a totally modernized fleet as we introduce more new cars in the future.”
The Staten Island Railway will receive 75 cars as part of the 535-car order from Kawasaki Rail Car In. that also includes 440 standard R211A cars and 20 cars with the open gangway design [see “MTA provides first look at open-gangway subway cars,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 6, 2023]. The entire Staten Island portion of the initial Kawasaki order is expected to be delivered by the end of 2024. The MTA subsequently ordered another 640 of the R211 cars in 2022 [see “New York set to order …,” News Wire, Oct. 25, 2022].
