The MTA’s rollout of its multi-billion-dollar fleet of new subway cars has gone off-track.
The agency confirmed this week it was pulling six out of the seven ballyhooed R211 rail cars out of service due to equipment problems — just months after the high-tech trains were unveiled.
The shiny new subway cars — which are linked together by an open passageway for easier movement and feature wider doors, security cameras and digital displays — had issues including leaky gearboxes that can cause a train’s wheels to lock up and drag along the rails.
A video posted online shows one of the new trains apparently affected by the mechanical issue loudly clanging its way through the Nostrand Avenue station on Oct. 21.
“During routine operations of R211 subway cars in service, New York City Transit crews discovered a faulty gear box in some of the cars,” an MTA spokesperson said in an email.
“As is the case whenever we identify an issue with a particular subway car model, we have temporarily removed the affected trains from service until further testing is complete.”
The R211s have been gradually phased into service since March, starting with the A line.
To avoid service disruptions, the MTA said it will be putting older-model trains temporarily back into operation as they investigate the source of the issue.
The new trains are still under warranty, however, and officials expressed optimism they’d be able to resolve the problem within a few weeks.
The MTA’s planned $6 billion investment in new railcars is part of its ongoing $55 billion repair and modernization overhaul.
At the time of the R211’s unveiling, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said the new trains would provide straphangers with “a more modern passenger experience.”
The initial order, the MTA’s first major subway car purchase in five years, was awarded to manufacturer Kawasaki in 2018 and included 535 of the state-of-the-art R211s.
Last October, the MTA Board approved the purchase of an additional batch of 640 cars. The price tag for the first two orders is estimated to be around $3.2 billion.
Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, who built the mechanical issue-plagued R179s, was disqualified from bidding on the R211 project due to numerous delivery delays and a series of costly and dangerous malfunctions.
Bombardier’s disqualification, as well as federal regulations that require the MTA to only purchase trains made in America, made Kawasaki’s securing the contract something of a foregone conclusion — as they are the only two manufacturers in the US.
But the Kawasaki contract has been beset by issues of its own, with multiple delays resulting in the first R211s arriving more than a year behind schedule.