The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit Committee approved an order for 435 additional R211 subway cars, authorizing the full MTA Board to consider the order. The order includes 355 closed-end cars and 80 open-gangway cars.

With this order, the total number of R211 cars ordered by the MTA would rise to 1,610. Currently 345 R211 cars are in service throughout the New York Transit System, including on lines A and C and the Staten Island Railway.

New York City Transit also announced that early next year they will run at least two open-gangway trains on the G line, making it the second subway line with open-gangway trains. Customers will have a 1 in 5 chance of riding an open-gangway car on the G line. Open-gangway trains first arrived in New York on the C line earlier this year.

“Old train cars break down six times as frequently as new cars, so replacing them is more than just a matter of aesthetics,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “This latest purchase will help us get the next generation of rolling stock on the rails sooner so we can keep making the system more reliable and dramatically upgrade the passenger experience.”

The R211s will eventually replace all R44s on the Staten Island Railway and the current fleet of R46 subway cars which have been in service for decades. This new option will allow NYC Transit to begin replacement of R68s, which entered service in the mid-1980s.

The new railcar has an average mean distance between failure rate of approximately 220,000 miles, compared to the R46’s 46,000 miles. The mean distance between failure is a measure of how far the railcar can travel before a mechanical issue occurs and requires maintenance.

Delivery of the new cars is expected to begin in 2027.

This approval builds on MTA’s ongoing efforts to modernize its entire fleet of rolling stock. The R211 features security cameras in every car, more accessible seating, brighter lights, clearer signage and 58-inch-wide door openings which are eight inches wider than standard door openings on existing cars.