The MTA rolled out new R211 subway trains on the D line Wednesday, retiring 40-year-old R68 cars that break down at nearly three times the rate of the new models, according to AM New York. The announcement came at a press conference at the Coney Island-Stillwell Av station, where MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber and NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow appeared together.
The R211s run an average mean distance between failure of roughly 294,221 miles, compared to 106,470 miles for the R68s over the past year, per MTA open data cited by AM New York. Mean distance between failure measures how many miles a train travels on average before it breaks down.
Lieber noted at the press conference that the R68s “first arrived in June 1986,” the same year Top Gun was the top-grossing film in the country and the Mets beat the Red Sox in the World Series, AM New York reported. The cars have also become incompatible with the modern signal systems the MTA is installing across the subway network, and lack digital features and updated lighting, per AM New York.
The new trains come with 58-inch-wide doors, eight inches wider than on the previous models, along with digital wayfinding displays and additional space for passengers with disabilities, according to AM New York.
The MTA introduced R211s on the G line last year. After the rollout on the G, customer satisfaction with cleanliness on that line jumped 14 percentage points, while the B line saw a 7-point increase after its own R211 introduction, according to the MTA. The R211 has also been deployed on the A, C, and B lines, as well as the Rockaway Park Shuttle and Staten Island Railway, AM New York reported.
Crichlow said at the press conference that he is “thrilled that the D train is going to be joining the fleet of fleets to have the R211 on it,” adding that “customers will be able to benefit from everything that the train car offers,” per AM New York.
In March, the MTA placed what it says was its largest rail car order ever: 1,140 new R262 cars to replace 1980s-era rolling stock on the 1, 3, and 6 lines, according to AM New York.
Featured image: Bushwick Daily archive
