NYC Transit prepared for major subway car procurement

Railway Age, Sept, 1996

MTA New York City Transit plans to place orders for 840 new-technology subway cars for its A and B divisions over the next two years.

The bulk of the procurement, 740 cars designated R142, will be acquired for NYCT's A Division (the former IRT). They will be configured as 148 five-car trainsets, which NYCT says will reduce the amount of duplicate onboard equipment, simplifying maintenance and reducing costs. The R142s will replace approximately half of the agency's aging 1,400-car "Redbird" fleet, which consists of vehicles in the R26, R28, R29, R33, and R36 series. A contract award is anticipated by first-quarter 1997, and the supplier is required to deliver a prototype trainset within 18 months. After a six-month shakedown period, the balance of the order is due within two years.

Bombardier, Kawasaki, and GEC Alsthom prequalified to bid on the R 142s; final bids are due by mid-September. GEC Alsthom is aligned with Amerail, which acquired Morrison Knudsen's passenger car contracts. NYCT requires that a majority of the new cars' construction, including final assembly, occur in New York State; Amerail has a plant at Hornell, N.Y., Bombardier at Plattsburgh, and Kawasaki at Yonkers.

NYCT has issued detailed technical specifications that include several performance provisions, among them a requirement for an MDBF (mean distance between failure) of 100,000 miles.

Specs on the remaining 100 cars, designated R143, are in development; an RFP will be issued next year. The R143s are slated for service on the B Division (former IND and BMT), and will be configured in sets of three, four, or five.

All the new cars will incorporate such state-of-the-art features as three-phase a.c. propulsion; microprocessor-controlled regenerative braking; modular, roof-mounted HVAC equipment; and an automated station announcement system. They are also expected to weight about 10% less than existing equipment, thus reducing wear and tear on track and switches. The R142s will have a provision for the future addition of onboard communications-based train control equipment; the R143s are expected to be delivered with CBTC installed.

Technical specifications for these cars are drawn mostly from NYCT's New Technology Test Train Program, in which two trainsets, the R110A and R110B, supplied by Kawasaki and Bombardier, respectively, underwent extensive revenue service testing beginning in late 1992.

NYCT has set aside $1.9 billion in capital funding for the entire program.