Delivery Of Brand New A, J and C Trains Gets Delayed
The majority of the C trains are nearly 50 years old.
If you live anywhere along the C train line or ride it relatively often then you know that those rusted tin cans they call train cars are the ricketiest in the system, most of them having been built decades ago. The MTA was working to replace them in the very near future, but unfortunately, that replacement has now been significantly delayed.
By January 2017, the MTA was expecting Bombardier, the world’s “only manufacturer of both planes and trains,” to deliver 300 brand new R179s to the city, with the first trains appearing in January 2015, according to the Daily News. But due to the recent discovery of “cracks in the prototype’s steel undercarriage and walls,” there will now be a six-to-eleven-month delay.
Bombardier was commissioned to build the new R179s in March 2012 when the MTA awarded the company a $599 million contract. Their new trains would replace all the remaining R32 and R42 trains—currently operating on the A, C, J and Z lines—which were built in 1964-65 and 1969-70, respectively, and break down the most often.
But those living along those lines shouldn’t give into train-related depression quite yet: It should be noted that the J and C line trains, at least, continue to boast some of the lowest rates of delays in the subway system. The F train can’t say the same.
Follow Nikita Richardson on Twitter @nikitarbk
