The R179 is a class of 316 new technology (NTT) New York City Subway cars built by Bombardier Transportation for the B Division. The cars are expected to retire all remaining R42s, as well as some R32s.
Originally, the R179 order was supposed to contain 208 cars that were each 75 feet (23 m) long. In the 2010-2014 Capital Program, the order was changed to 290 cars that were 60 feet (18 m) long, similar to the car lengths of the R143 and R160 orders, with options for up to 130 more cars. The majority of the R179s were supposed to be in 300-foot-long (91 m) five-car sets, because the R179s would be replacing the 75-foot-long R44s, which were arranged in 300-foot-long four-car sets. A minority of the R179s were to be arranged in 240-foot-long (73 m) four-car sets. In 2011, the order was reduced to 300 60-foot-long cars with no additional option orders. Because of the R44s' earlier than planned retirement and the R32s and R42s assigned to services utilizing eight-car trains at the time, the setup was reversed, with the majority of the R179s being arranged in four-car sets.
The $599 million contract for the R179s' construction was awarded to Bombardier in 2012. At the time, the first R179 train was set to be delivered in December 2014 and the last train would be delivered in July 2017. Because of manufacturing defects during the construction process, the timeline for delivery was pushed back two years, and the cost of the contract rose to $735 million. The first R179 cars were delivered in September 2016, and the first test train of eight cars was placed in service in November 2017. The test train passed its 30-day in-service test in December 2017, which allowed the remaining R179s to be placed in service. All cars are expected to be delivered by early 2019. In January 2018, sixteen more cars were added to the order so that there would be 24 five-car sets instead of the 8 originally projected and 49 four-car sets instead of the original 65.
Video R179 (New York City Subway car)
Description
The R179s' full numbering range is to be determined. Currently, there are ten cars numbered 3010-3019 arranged as five-car sets, and other cars numbered 3050-3101 arranged as four-car sets.
Features
The R179 cars are equipped with updated control systems, HVAC and public address systems. They are visually very similar to the R160s, but the two car types are not interoperable with each other due to electrical incompatibilities between them.
The R179s, like the R160s, employ an advanced alternative to electronic strip maps called the "Flexible Information and Notice Display" or "FIND", which are manufactured by Axion Technologies LTD. This includes an LCD screen displaying the route, route information, and advertisements, as well as a dynamic red, yellow, and green LED strip map that displays the next ten stations, plus five consecutive "further stops" to riders. There are three of these in every car. The display updates the stations at every stop, also giving the number of stops to each station listed. This allows for instant route or line changes with the correct information, which includes, but is not limited to, omitting certain stops (displayed as "Will not stop" in red). However, the LCD displays on the R179s that show the route are slightly larger than those on the R160s. Additionally, if the FIND has gone blank, the R179 FIND displays "Route change: this map is not in use", as opposed to the R160 FIND, which displays "Listen to train crew for announcement."
The R179s utilize the older door closing chimes used on the R142s and R142As, as opposed to the newer door chimes used on the R143s, R160s and R188s.
The R179s include provisions for the retrofit of CBTC equipment.
The R179s are equipped with looped stanchions in the interiors of trains, so as to provide passengers on crowded trains with a greater amount of pole surface area to grab on to. This feature is currently found on R160A set 9798-9802 and the 100 R160s that were refurbished as part of an action plan to fix the subway's 2017 state of emergency.
Maps R179 (New York City Subway car)
History
Contract plans
The R179 contract originally consisted of 208 75-foot-long (23 m) cars. Later, in the 2010-2014 Capital Program, the proposed order was expanded to 420 cars (340 for the New York City Subway and 80 for the Staten Island Railway). This consisted of 290 base order cars (250 arranged in 5-car sets and the remaining 40 arranged in 4-car sets), with two option orders. The first option called for 50 cars arranged in 5-car sets. There was also a second option for 80 additional cars, which would have supplied cars for Second Avenue Subway Phase I service. The proposed MTA 2010-2014 Capital Program pointed towards an order of 60-foot (18.29 m) cars.
The official RFP was issued on June 3, 2010. Bids were due by the following August 13, and in April 2011 the contract was expected to be awarded for $637.8 million. However, there were delays with negotiation problems, and the projected cost went up to $748 million in October 2011. In November 2011, the order was altered to a base order of 300 cars (260 arranged in 4-car sets and the remaining 40 arranged in 5-car sets), with no options.
The contract was finally awarded on March 24, 2012, when it was awarded to Bombardier Transportation for $599 million, below the projected cost. The joint venture Alskaw Inc., made up of the companies Kawasaki and Alstom, which built the R160A/B cars, protested the award of the contract to Bombardier immediately after the MTA Board approved the contract. However, the protest was denied, and Bombardier signed the contract on June 4, 2012.
A 2012 news report from the New York Daily News indicated that a high-ranking MTA official had been in talks with car builder Bombardier Transportation, Inc. for a job. This prompted an ethics investigation, but has since been resolved.
The R179s were originally intended to replace all the R44s, but due to structural integrity issues found on New York City Transit's R44s in early 2010, those cars' retirement was facilitated by an option order of R160s. Additionally, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority later dropped the plan to order R179s for the Staten Island Railway, instead opting to overhaul some R46s to replace the existing R44s there (which has also since been cancelled). The R179s were then intended to retire all remaining R42s (50 cars) and R32s (222 cars). However, some R32s are expected to be retained due to delays in the delivery of the R179s and potential need of extra rolling stock to provide additional service. As a result, the MTA plans to spend another $49.2 million to refurbish and maintain 132 to 164 R32 cars through 2018 and then 110 R32 cars through 2019, before finally replacing the remaining cars with the R211As. In addition, the MTA plans to deliver most, if not all R179s before the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown in 2019.
Due to continuing delays in the production of the R179s, the order was increased by 16 additional B-cars on January 22, 2018 after a settlement was reached between New York City Transit and Bombardier. The order now consists of 316 cars (120 arranged in 5-car sets and 196 arranged in 4-car sets).
Manufacturing issues
In a timeline set in October 2012, the first test train was scheduled to arrive on December 22, 2014, the first production unit was scheduled to arrive on July 27, 2015, and the entire order was to be completed on January 30, 2017. After some delays in starting production, a non-operational mockup was built in late November 2013. Delivery of the first 10-car test train was now scheduled for the third quarter of 2014, though delivery of the production cars was still scheduled to begin July 2015 and continue through January 2017. However, as NYCTA's and Bombardier's inspectors found cracks due to welding issues in the prototype train's chassis, the entire lot was rejected, and the delivery schedule was pushed back by two years.
The delays in delivery have increased the cost of the cars from $599 million to $735 million; these additional costs add to the costs required to maintain older cars. In addition, because of the 2-year delay in producing the R179s, Bombardier was banned from bidding on the R211 contract on August 29, 2017.
Delivery
Bombardier is building the cars in its Plattsburgh, New York, facility. The first five-car set of R179s (3010-3014) was delivered to the New York City Transit Authority between September 6 and 8, 2016. The next five cars (3015-3019) were delayed and were delivered between November 15 and 17, 2016, forming a complete ten-car train for acceptance testing and evaluation. The first four-car set of R179s (3050-3053) was delivered between December 21 and 22, 2016. The next four cars (3054-3057) were delivered in January 2017, forming a complete eight-car train for acceptance testing and evaluation.
A delivery plan from January 2017 anticipated a rate of one car per day starting from November 2017, in an effort to have all cars on property by July 2018. However, an estimate as of January 2018 states that the order is now not expected to be completed until January 2019. Additionally, the first production cars were delivered in December 2017, a month later than the original plan.
The R179s entered revenue service on the J on November 19, 2017 for in-service acceptance testing after slightly over a year of successful non-revenue service tests. During the first two weeks of the testing period, the MTA identified three major issues in the train, which have since been fixed. After successful completion, the four-car R179 sets entered revenue service on December 27, 2017. The five-car R179 sets are expected to be tested in the first quarter of 2018.
See also
- New Technology Train - a list of all such trains on the New York City Subway.
- R143 (New York City Subway car) - a similar car built by Kawasaki Railcar Corp. of Kobe, Japan
- R160 (New York City Subway car) - a similar car built by Alstom and Kawasaki Railcar Corp.
References
External links
- nycsubway.org: New Technology Trains - B Division
- MTA Committee Meeting Discussing the R179
- Staff Summary
Source of article : Wikipedia
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