The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board’s New York City Transit Committee approved an order for 640 more R211 subway cars.

The subway cars will be manufactured by Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. The facility will manufacture the car body structure and install interior equipment, while final assembly and function testing will be performed at the Lincoln and Yonkers facilities.

Qualification testing on the R211s already delivered is underway with passenger service expected by the spring, according to MTA's news release.

The option, an addition to the base order of 535 cars awarded in 2018, would bring the total number of R211 cars ordered to 1,175, including 75 Staten Island rail cars and 20 cars that feature open gangways.

The R211 cars feature 58-inch-wide door openings that are eight inches wider than standard door openings on existing cars, according to MTA.

The cars also include security cameras, digital displays that will provide information about services and stations, and brighter lighting and signage.

"We are thrilled to see customers coming back to the system with increased frequency and our main objective is to provide safe, fast reliable service,” said Richard Davey, New York City Transit president. “These modern trains feature wider doorways that will help speed up boarding time, run more reliably, and give our riders a more modern passenger experience.”