New Equipment for the SIRT?

Don't know if this is the proper place to discuss SIRT but since they are a subsidiary of NYCTA, I'll post this question here, since there is no SIRT discussion board here.

What is the status of the R-44's on SIRT? They're over 30 years old. Any plans to replace them and if so with what, M-7's or R-143's? M-7's would be more appropriate than R-143's on SIRT. Although part of the NYCTA, SIRT is a railroad and not a subway. It should have rail passenger cars rather than subway cars.

As usual, it seems SI will be getting the short end of the stick. NYCTA has much greater concerns at this point than the trains running on SIRT, namely the major service disruptions they've had in the past month. Besides that, the A/E/N/W are running cars even older than those on SIRT, and replacing them seems to be going nowhere fast. I wouldn't hold my breath...

BTW, if and when the cars are replaced, I wouldn't look for an M-7 or anything of the sort. The SIRT cars take the same abuse as a regular subway car, and the M-7 interiors are simply not equipped to handle it.

I also agree that a subway car is more appropriate for SIRT given the abuse it takes all the time.

Here's the larger issue that seems to be missed every time I hear talk about new equipment for the SIR: do the SI R44s really need to be replaced?