Nearly two years after the coronavirus engulfed New York, causing a virtual abandonment of the country’s largest transportation network, riders have slowly returned to the subway in an uneven pattern that underscores the economic divide at the heart of the city’s fitful recovery. As trains arrive, finding a seat is not hard. In a neighborhood lined with office buildings, a once-reliable stream of white-collar commuters has thinned to a trickle. But this one, at a formerly hectic subway station in Lower Manhattan, feels jarringly different.

Hours later, as darkness falls, another rush hour begins. The new train cars will replace the R46 subway cars currently running on the A line, which date back to the mid-1970s.The sun rises on a weekday in New York City, and at a Queens subway station the daily grind resembles its old self: Thousands of people pile onto an open-air platform above a bustling neighborhood, waiting in the cold to crowd onto rush-hour trains toward work, school and other essential appointments. Lieber added that the agency is investing over $6 billion in new train cars as part of its $55 billion Capital Program. The second set is expected to arrive in early 2025. Last October, the MTA announced that its board approved an order of 640 additional R211s, for a total of 1,175 new subway cars within the next two years. The new cars also work with the agency’s new signaling system that will allow trains to run more frequently and closer together.

That includes 15 for the Staten Island Railway and 20 cars with “open gangways,” which allow for free movement between cars. “So riding the subway no longer feels like a step into the past.”Īll told, 535 R211 subway cars will be arriving on the city’s train tracks. “The new cars are going to give our riders a more modern passenger experience,” said MTA Chairman Janno Lieber during a Friday press conference at the 207th Street station. The new R211 model includes security cameras, flip-up seating for added space for riders with disabilities, and door openings that are 8 inches wider for quicker boarding. Riders of the A train may notice something different during their commute: The MTA has rolled out new “state-of-the-art” subway cars on the subway route.

Nyc subway trains