The History of the R179

Añadido: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00][music] [music] [music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [screaming] [singing] [music] [music] [singing] [singing] [music and singing] [music and singing] [music] >> The R179 rail cars will probably be overlooked as history moves on. It was created in between the widespread R160s and the futuristic for New York standards [music] at 211. When it was in the news, it was never for any good reason. Despite that, the R179 is an important [music] piece of New York transit. This is the history of the R179.

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[00:02:02]>> [music] >> The R179s were never meant to be revolutionary train cars. [music] Instead, they were built as replacements for older subway cars. They were supposed to be built 75 [music] ft long and replace the aging of 44, but that changed. The original [music] order consisted of 208 cars, which would be expanded in the 2010-14 [music] capital program to 420, with 80 of those going to the Staten [music] Island Railway. However, we know that didn't happen. The R44s became a huge problem for the city as they were quickly aging even faster than the older R32 and R42 cars. At the same time, the MTA was just coming off the retirement of the R38 and R40 cars. [music] This created a shortage of rail cars, so the MTA decided to keep some of the older [music] 32 and R42 cars around and fully retire the R44 and use an option order for the R160 [music] to replace the R40 fleet. As a part of this change, the 80 cars meant for Staten [music] Island were removed. The R179 was now intended to replace the R32 and R42 [music] rail cars.

[00:03:13]The R179 order [music] was delayed several times. At first, the R179 was expected to be in service by 2015 with the entire fleet set to be in service [music] by January 2017. However, this was delayed due to issues in production.

[00:03:28]By 2013, the plan was to have the first 10-car test train of R179 [music] to be delivered by mid-to-late 2014 and the existing plan to have the first production set [music] be in service 2015 to hold true. During production of the cars, inspectors of the cars found cracks that originated from welding issues.

[00:03:47]>> [music] >> This led to the entire lot being rejected and the delivery windows being pushed back by [music] 2 years. This delay was also financially costing as the MTA had to pay an increase from the original 599 million to an raised [music] price of 739 million. It also forced the MTA to pay even more to maintain [music] the older cars for the time of the delay. Because of this fiasco, Bombardier was banned from bidding on the R211 contract. The first five car set of the 179 arrived on September [music] 6, 2016. Due to delays, the next five car set was delivered on November 17th, 2016.

[00:04:22][music] The first four car set arrived on December 22nd, 2016 and the next was delivered in January [music] 2017.

[00:04:29]Around that time, the time was to accept one car per day to have all the 179 train car in hand by [music] July 2018.

[00:04:36]However, delays changed this from July 2018 to March 2019. The delays in delivery allowed for the MTA to order more cars, [music] which set the date back to November 2019. By December 30th, 2019, all 300 18 R179 cars were delivered. [music] The first R179 set, which were the four car sets, >> [music] >> entered service on the J line on November 19th, 2017 for the 30-day acceptance test. The official start [music] date for the R179 cars was on December 27, 2017. The first five car set of R179 trains entered service on the A line on March 12th, [music] 2019.

[00:05:17]By late 2018, several R179 set had to be taken out of service due [music] to issues with doors, propulsion, and air compressor issues. In January 2019, then MTA President Andy [music] Byford had ordered the suspension of active R179 cars and the delivery of more [music] until Bombardier fixed the issues with the cars and the cars were reactivated in February. [music] Things seemed to trend positively until 2020. On January 8, 2020, all 318 R179 train cars were pulled from service. The Inwood accident was two [music] incidents of door problems on the C line. A door had opened when the train was moving. The MTA reactivated the older rolling stock such as [music] the A32 and A42 to fill in. The TWU also complained of stiff [music] windows, slippery controls, and other design flaws that led to the R179 being called lemons. The cars were repaired and reentered service starting on January 24th, [music] 2020 and all 318 cars were back in service by late March. Just when it appeared that everything was getting to normal on June 3rd, [music] 2020, a set of R179 cars had a link bar separated while running on the A line. The train [music] split between the sixth and seventh cars. This caused the cars to be pulled from service again and the A32 were once again reactivated. The R179 cars reentered service on September 23rd, 2020. [music] The R179s have had quite the life despite being less than 10 years old. The cars have been delayed, pulled from service twice, and allowed for the A32 and A42 to have extended life on the system. I view these cars like I view the R143 cars. They are odd balls from the rest of the fleet with the R179 being even more different from the R160 cars than the R143 cars were.

[00:07:04]Hopefully, these cars can stay in service because what the MTA need less than now more than anything is for one of their newest train cars to be pulled from service again. This has been the history of the MTA. Thanks for watching.

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