R211 Acquisition Next Generation Subway Car w. Gangways

https://nypost.com/2023/02/03/mta-unvei ... iders/amp/

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The MTA says A/C line straphangers will get the first crack at the shiny new rides, as well as a look at what the MTA hopes is the future: Subway cars linked together by an open passageway, allowing riders to easily move around and find seats during the rush hours.

The MTA has ordered just two of these open-gangway trains as part of a pilot program so far, but Chairman Janno Lieber and his chief of New York City Transit, Richard Davey, played up the advantages when they invited reporters out for a demonstration Friday.
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The two open-gangway trains and their traditional closed-car brethren will allow the MTA to finally replace the problem-plagued R46 trains, which date back to the presidencies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

The open-gangway trains link together the first five cars and the last five cars of the train, allowing passengers to more easily move between the front half or back half, a setup that is common on major European subways like London and Paris.
...

I haven't seen the R211T (open gangway cars yet - assuming they have been built and are in a yard somewhere being tested) but yesterday (2/20/23) I did see 10 cars of the R211A being run (although not in service) on the s/b local track along Central Park West. This was about 10:30 in the morning. I was riding in a D train on the express track. It appeared from what I could see is that the consist was being tested by making local stops with just crew members on board (probably T/Os being trained on the equipment).

I got off the D at 59th-Columbus Circle and waited for the R211A with the hope of getting a few photos. The train barely stayed in the station a minute (getting a line-up real quick) so what I got came out dark and a bit blurry.

The consist was 4065-4066-4067-4068-4069, 4064-4063-4062-4061-4060

Allan - I have a question concerning the open gangway R211 cars:

As we know one of the summonsable offenses enforced by the NYPD Transit Bureau is crossing between
subway cars either in motion or stationary. Will Transit officers be informed that this new equipment is
going to allow riders unimpeded open access between the five unit sets so no one gets ticketed?

I see a backlash coming from media and political sources if uninformed police officers ticket riders walking
between R211 open gangway subway cars becomes a unexpected problem for NYCT...MACTRAXX

MACTRAXX wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 5:04 pm As we know one of the summonsable offenses enforced by the NYPD Transit Bureau is crossing between
subway cars either in motion or stationary. Will Transit officers be informed that this new equipment is
going to allow riders unimpeded open access between the five unit sets so no one gets ticketed?

Its a non-issue since the open gangway it much like an articulated unit, aka Green Hornet, Zephyr, Multisection and my favorite Bluebird.

dieciduej is right as there will not be a 'separation' between cars (or doors for that matter except in the end cars in each 5 car set).

There will only be one test train of the R211T gangway cars. These cars will be numbered:

4040-4041-4042-4043-4044, 4045-4056-4057-4058-4059


If you look at the Wikipedia article on the R211 you will see photos of the open gangway (in the Features section)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R211_(New ... ubway_car)

The problem with the open gangway set in my mind is isolation. Here in Boston when one car becomes problematic it can be isolated and we have a 5-car set instead of 6 cars. With the open gangway it goes from 10 cars to 5 cars or removed from service. I believe the articulation join is not over a truck, but I would guess maintenance will be more of an issue, since it is a small fleet.

dieciduej wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 2:01 am The problem with the open gangway set in my mind is isolation. Here in Boston when one car becomes problematic it can be isolated and we have a 5-car set instead of 6 cars. With the open gangway it goes from 10 cars to 5 cars or removed from service. I believe the articulation join is not over a truck, but I would guess maintenance will be more of an issue, since it is a small fleet.

This already happens with the R142, R143, and R160. If one car in those trains is problematic, the whole set has to come out. Never have I seen a mismatched train yet.

Speaking of articulation, the 4 sets have different gangways.

4040-4044, 4045-4049 have wall panels inside the corridor between cars. The inside looks more like a hall.
4050-4054, 4055-4059 have the accordion-style interior in their gangway, so the inside looks like an articulated bus.

GojiMet86 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 4:07 pm This already happens with the R142, R143, and R160. If one car in those trains is problematic, the whole set has to come out. Never have I seen a mismatched train yet.

Isolation in this respect is when someone takes a dump in a car, pukes, bleeds, breaks a window, etc.

Allegedly the open gangway R211s have some sort of partition for isolating individual cars.

GirlOnTheTrain wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 12:55 am Isolation in this respect is when someone takes a dump in a car, pukes, bleeds, breaks a window, etc.

Allegedly the open gangway R211s have some sort of partition for isolating individual cars.

So if a section of a R211 gets "sick" (dump/puke/bleed), that section is sectioned off until the end point of the run, held for cleaning, and then sent back out on a different run, right?

If the R211 is broken (window, etc) and has to be shopped, that whole set has to be closed off, possibly split off, and expressed or towed to the yard for fixing.

Correct so far?

Either the mess is cleaned up at the terminal and the car is normalized for service or the train is laid up to the yard for attention. This isn't any different than how things happen now.

A train is not going to stay in revenue service with multiple isolated cars.

MACTRAXX wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 5:04 pm Allan - I have a question concerning the open gangway R211 cars:

As we know one of the summonsable offenses enforced by the NYPD Transit Bureau is crossing between
subway cars either in motion or stationary. Will Transit officers be informed that this new equipment is
going to allow riders unimpeded open access between the five unit sets so no one gets ticketed?

I see a backlash coming from media and political sources if uninformed police officers ticket riders walking
between R211 open gangway subway cars becomes a unexpected problem for NYCT...MACTRAXX

Please, you can't even get the cops to write tickets for farebeating and eject skells for more egregious violations. This is a nothingburger.

MACTRAXX wrote: ↑Tue Feb 21, 2023 5:04 pm Allan - I have a question concerning the open gangway R211 cars:

As we know one of the summonsable offenses enforced by the NYPD Transit Bureau is crossing between
subway cars either in motion or stationary. Will Transit officers be informed that this new equipment is
going to allow riders unimpeded open access between the five unit sets so no one gets ticketed?

I see a backlash coming from media and political sources if uninformed police officers ticket riders walking
between R211 open gangway subway cars becomes a unexpected problem for NYCT...MACTRAXX

This is the silliest concern regarding the open gangway cars I've seen to date.... you're never leaving the interior to cross between the cars bc they are connected by the enclosed gangway. Non-issue as far as getting ticketed for walking in between conventional cars goes.

In other news, here's my compilation from the first week of 30-day testing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHN5maSmdi0