R179 (New York City Subway car)

"R179" redirects here. For the imprint for a pharmaceutical, see Tizanidine. For the road, see Route 179.
R179

An R179 train testing at Rockaway Boulevard
Manufacturer Bombardier Transportation
Built at Bombardier's Plattsburgh facility
Family name NTT (new technology train)
Replaced
Constructed 2016-2018 (expected)
Entered service 2017 (expected)
Number under construction 290 (260 in 4-car sets, 30 in 5-car sets)
Number built 10
Formation
  • 65 four-car sets (two B cars)
  • 8 five-car sets (three B cars)
Fleet numbers
  • R179 five-car sets: 3010–3049
  • R179 four-car sets: 3050–3309
Operator(s) New York City Subway
Depot(s) [1]
Specifications
Train length 4-car train: 240.84 feet (73.41 m)
5-car train: 301.05 feet (91.76 m)
8-car train: 481.68 feet (146.82 m)
10-car train: 602.1 feet (183.5 m)
Car length 60.21 feet (18.35 m)
Floor height 3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Platform height 3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Entry 3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Doors 8 per car
Traction system Bombardier MITRAC AC Propulsion
Prime mover(s) electric motor
Electric system(s) 600V DC Third rail
Current collection method Contact shoe
Safety system(s) emergency brakes
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The R179 is a class of 300 New Technology Train subway cars built by Bombardier Transportation for the New York City Subway's B Division. The cars are anticipated to retire all remaining R42s (50 cars), as well as a majority of remaining R32s.

Description

The R179s are numbered 3010–3309. Cars 3010-3049 are arranged as five-car sets, while the remaining 260 cars (3050-3309) are arranged as four-car sets.

Contract details

The R179 contract originally consisted of 208 75-foot-long (23 m) cars.[2] Later, in the 2010-2014 Capital Program the proposed order was expanded to 420 cars (340 New York City Subway, 80 Staten Island Railway).[3] Even later, the order was reduced to 340 cars in early 2011, and finally to 300 cars in November 2011.

The R179s were intended to replace all the R44s, but due to structural integrity issues found on New York City Transit's R44s in early 2010, those cars' retirement was facilitated by option order R160s. Additionally, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority later dropped the plan to order R179s for the Staten Island Railway, instead opting to overhaul some R46s to replace the existing R44s there. However, the plan to overhaul the R46s for the Staten Island Railway was also cancelled; thus, new future R211S cars are planned to replace the Staten Island Railway's fleet of R44s instead.[4]

The official RFP was issued on June 3, 2010. Bids were due by the following August 13, and in April 2011 the contract was expected to be awarded for $637.8 million.[5] However, there were delays with negotiation problems, and the projected cost went up to $748 million in October 2011.[6] The contract specified the purchase of 290 cars with 250 arranged as 5-car sets and the remaining 40 arranged in 4-car sets, with the 50 Option I cars arranged in 5-car sets. There was also a second option for 80 additional cars, which would have supplied cars for Second Avenue Subway Phase I service. The proposed MTA 2010-2014 Capital Program pointed toward an order of 60-foot (18.29 m) cars.[7] In November 2011, the order was altered to only a base order of 300 cars,[8][9] 260 of which will be in 4-car sets, and 40 of which will be in 5-car sets, with no options.[10] The contract was finally awarded on March 24, 2012,[11] when it was awarded to Bombardier Transportation for $599 million, below the projected cost.[12][13] The joint venture Alskaw, made up of Kawasaki and Alstom, who built the R160A/B cars, protested the award of the contract to the Bombardier immediately after the MTA Board approved the contract.[14] However, the protest was denied, and the contract was signed by the company on June 4, 2012.[15][16]

The order is anticipated to retire all remaining R42s (50 cars). All R32s were planned to be replaced by the R179s as well, but many are now expected to be retained due to delays in the delivery of the R179s and potential need of extra rolling stock to provide additional service.[17] As a result, the MTA is expected to spend another $49.2 million to refurbish and maintain 132 R32 cars through 2018 and then 110 R32 cars through 2019.[18]

Features

The R179 cars are equipped with updated control systems, HVAC and public address systems to guarantee the utmost in safety and passenger comfort. They are visually very similar to the R160s, but the two car types are not interoperable with each other due to electrical incompatibilities between the two types of cars.[19]

The R179s, like the R160s, employ an advanced alternative to electronic strip maps, called the "Flexible Information and Notice Display," or "FIND." They are manufactured by Panasonic. This includes an LCD screen displaying the route, route information, and advertisements, as well as a dynamic red, yellow, and green LED strip map that displays the next ten stations, plus five consecutive "further stops" to riders. There are three of these in every car. The display updates the stations at every stop, also giving the number of stops to each station listed. This allows for instant route or line changes with the correct information, which includes, but is not limited to, omitting certain stops (displayed as "Will not stop" in red). The LCD displays where the route is displayed are slightly larger than those on the R160s.[20][21][22][23]

Unlike the R160s, the cab cars have advertisement space on the wall between the operators' cab and the passenger areas.[24][25]

The R179s include provisions for the retrofit of CBTC equipment.

The R179s will be equipped with looped stanchions in the interiors of trains, so as to provide passengers on crowded trains with a greater amount of pole surface area to grab on to.[24][25] This feature is used on R160A consist 9798–9802.

Problems

A 2012 news report from the New York Daily News indicated that a high-ranking MTA official had been in talks with car builder Bombardier Transportation, Inc. for a job.[26] This prompted an ethics investigation, but has since been resolved.[27]

In October 2012, the first test train was scheduled to arrive on December 22, 2014, the first production unit was scheduled to arrive on July 27, 2015, and the entire order was to be completed on January 30, 2017.[10] After some delays in starting production, a non-operational mockup was built in late November 2013. Delivery of the first 10-car test train was now scheduled for the third quarter of 2014,[16] though delivery of the production cars was still scheduled to begin July 2015 and continue through January 2017. However, as NYCTA's and Bombardier's inspectors found cracks due to welding issues in the prototype train's chassis, the entire lot was rejected, and the delivery schedule was pushed back by two years.[28][29] The delays in delivery have increased the cost of the cars from $599 million to $735 million; these additional costs add to the costs required to maintain older cars.[30][31]

Delivery

R179 3015 being delivered

Bombardier is building the cars in its Plattsburgh, New York, facility.[32] The first car of the first five-car consist, 3014, was delivered on September 6, 2016, and delivery of the other cars (3010–3013) was completed by September 8, 2016.[33] The other five cars of the first test train (3015–3019), were expected to arrive by mid-September 2016, but delivery of the cars was delayed until November 15, 2016, when 3019 was delivered;[30][34] subsequently, 3015-3018 were delivered between November 16, 2016 and November 17, 2016. Regardless, the R179s began non-revenue service tests on October 13, 2016 when cars 3010-3014 were set up as a test train.[35] These same cars began clearance testing on November 20, 2016.[36]

The first production cars are expected to be delivered in February 2017. The first 88 to 92 cars are intended be delivered by the third quarter of 2017, the first 210 are intended to be delivered by the first quarter of 2018, and all cars are expected to be on property by July 2018.[8]

It has been planned that the five-car sets will make up a small part of the A's fleet and that some of the four-car sets will comprise the C's entire fleet.[37] In general, the cars are tentatively planned to be assigned on services that currently use R32s and R42s (the C and J/Z) or are subject to the retrofitting of CBTC (the A, C, L, and M).[38]

See also

References

  1. ↑ New York Subway Barn Assignments – November 6, 2016
  2. ↑ "MTA Capital Program 2008–2013 February 2008" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 2008. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Proposed MTA Capital Program 2010–2014" (PDF). nysenate.gov. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 23, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  4. ↑ "R34211 NOTICE -OF- ADDENDUM ADDENDUM #3" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 11, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Capital Program Oversight Meeting April 2011" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 21, 2011. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Capital Program Oversight Meeting October 2011" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 24, 2011. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Proposed Capital Program 2010–2014" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2009. p. 36. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting: January 2016" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. p. 58. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Capital Program Oversight Meeting November 2011" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 14, 2011. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Capital Program Oversight Meeting October 2012" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 29, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Capital Program Oversight Meeting April 2012" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 23, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  12. ↑ "R179 Staff Summary March 2012" (PDF). mta.info. New York City Transit. March 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Governor Cuomo Announces $600 Million MTA Investment in Upstate Manufacturing | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo". Governor.ny.gov. March 28, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Capital Program Oversight Meeting May 2012" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 21, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Capital Program Oversight Meeting June 2012" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. June 27, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  16. 1 2 "Bombardier in the USA – Media Center". Us.bombardier.com. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  17. ↑ "MTA | news | Detailed Study of System's Longest Subway Line Identifies Opportunities to Improve Service". www.mta.info. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  18. ↑ "MTA 2016 Preliminary Budget Financial Plan 2016-2019 Volume 2" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. p. V-222. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Transit & Bus Committee Meeting May 2016" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  20. ↑ Seaton, Charles (December 6, 2006). "New York City Bringing Rail Into the 21st Century". Metro Magazine. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  21. ↑ "MTA Capital Program Oversight Meeting January 2016" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  22. ↑ Chan, Sewell (November 30, 2005). "New Subway Cars Promise All Kinds of Information". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2007.
  23. ↑ Samuel, Jvoan (September 2016). "R179 interior of #3014 in 207th Street Yard". Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  24. 1 2 Trainkid kris (September 10, 2016), MTA NYCT Bombardier Transportation R179# 3014 R179 Interior First Peak, YouTube (private video)
  25. 1 2 Logan, Trevor. "MTA's Bombardier Photos (2015-18 R-179) | TTMG". www.ttmg.org. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  26. ↑ "MTA exec Mario Guerra hit on ethics over seeking job with subway-car maker". NY Daily News. March 28, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  27. ↑ "News - Media Centre". Bombardier. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting: July 2014" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. p. 30. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  29. ↑ Donohue, Pete (July 29, 2014). "Riders on C train will have to wait longer for new Subway cars". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  30. 1 2 "Exclusive: New subway cars arrive for testing". am New York. September 6, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  31. ↑ Kabak, Benjamin (August 14, 2015). "As Bombardier struggles, R179 delay to cost MTA $50 million". secondavenuesagas.com. Second Avenue Sagas. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Governor Cuomo Announces $600 Million MTA Investment in Upstate Manufacturing". September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Photo by David Paul Gerber". Photobucket. September 6, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  34. ↑ Barone, Vincent (September 6, 2016). "New MTA subway cars to arrive for testing, will replace oldest fleet". AM New York. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  35. ↑ Fan Railer (2016-10-28). NYC Subway HD 60 FPS RARE: Bombardier R179 Test Train Teaser (Pulling into Broad Channel) 10/28/16. YouTube. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  36. ↑ NYC Subway HD RARE: Bombardier R179 3010-3014 Clearance Testing @ Sutphin Blvd–JFK Airport. YouTube. 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  37. ↑ "Review of the A and C Lines" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  38. ↑ "New R179 subway cars arrive in NYC". New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV. September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to R179 (New York City Subway car).
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.