The MTA has announced that new subway cars will be making their way to the tracks soon.
Plans for new train designs have been underway for some time, and now those plans are becoming a reality. The MTA’s subway redesign will allow more straphangers to fit within the cars and will feature open gangways.
The new trains are part of the “Fast Forward” plans announced early last year that will allow 50 years worth of subway updates to take place in only a decade. There will be nearly 5,000 new subway cars introduced to the tracks within that time.
However, according to the original press release for these redesigned subway cars, there are plans to add 1,025 of the reimagined trains to the system by 2020. This will include about 750 with “open car end” designs. The press release details that the new subway cars:
[include] vital enhancements to the exteriors and interiors of regular cars, wider doors, as well as the addition of up to 750 “Open Car End” designed-cars, which will reduce wait times and increase capacity. The Governor also previewed key elements that will be featured in the renovation of 31 subway stations throughout the New York Metropolitan Area, and announced that the first of several Requests for Proposals will be issued this week. The MTA is using design-build contracts to expedite the process and ensure the shortest timeframe for project completion.
The “open car end” means there will no longer be doors between the cars and instead they will filter into each other, making it one long train as opposed to many connecting cars. There will also be wider doors, a new exterior, and LED headlights.
These new trains are expected to roll out before the summer of 2020.
featured image source: rendering via Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo, press release