R62A (New York City Subway car)

"R62A" redirects here. For the road, see Route 62.
R62A (New York City Subway car)

A train made of R62A cars in 1 service approaches 125th Street in Manhattan, bound for South Ferry.

Interior of an R62A car.
In service 1985–present
Manufacturer Bombardier
Built at La Pocatière, Quebec; Barre, Vermont (final assembly)
Replaced R17, R21, R22
Constructed 1984–1987
Number built 825
Number in service 824 (679 in revenue service during rush hours)
Number scrapped 1 (No. 1909)
Formation 5-car sets (1651–1900, 1961–2475)
singles (1901–1960)
3-car sets (TBA)
Fleet numbers 1651-2475
Capacity 42 (A Car, full-width cab at one end)
44 (B Car, half-width cabs at both ends)
Operator(s) New York City Subway
Depot(s) 240th Street Yard, Corona Yard, Pelham Yard[1]
Service(s) assigned  – 310 cars
 – 260 cars
 – 99 cars
 – 10 cars
Specifications
Car body construction Stainless steel with fiberglass end bonnets
Train length 3-car train: 153.12 feet (46.67 m)
4-car train: 204.16 feet (62.23 m)
10-car train: 510.4 feet (155.6 m)
11-car train: 561.44 feet (171.13 m)
Car length 51.04 feet (15.56 m)
Width 8.60 feet (2,621 mm)
Height 11.89 feet (3,624 mm)
Platform height 3.65 ft (1.11 m)
Doors 6 per car
Maximum speed 55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight 75,550 lb (34,270 kg)
Traction system Adtranz E-Cam Propulsion with 4 Westinghouse 1447J motors per car
Power output 115 hp (85.8 kW) per axle
Acceleration 2.5 mph/s (4.0 km/(h·s))
Auxiliaries SAFT NIFE PR80F Battery
SAFT SMT8 Battery
Electric system(s) 625 V DC Third rail
Current collection method Contact shoe
Braking system(s) NYAB GSX23 Newtran “COBRA SMEE” Braking System
NYAB Tread Brake Unit
Safety system(s) emergency brakes
Coupling system Westinghouse H2C
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The R62A is a New York City Subway car built between 1984 and 1987 by Bombardier in La Pocatiere, Quebec, with final assembly done in Barre, Vermont under a license from Kawasaki.

History

An R62A train with I Love New York advertisements (top) and no advertisements (bottom).
A green circle (top) denotes a local train, while a red diamond (bottom) denotes an express train.
Interior of an R62A car that has undergone the SMS treatment

Following the successful delivery of the 325-car R62 order from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) put out a bid for an additional 825 cars to replace the aging R17/21/22 cars, which had all been built in 1954–8. Kawasaki did not want to build another set of cars under a different contract number, so the R62A contract was awarded to Bombardier Transportation of Quebec, who won the bid over Budd Company of Pennsylvania.[2][3][4] While Bombardier had offered a higher price per car than Budd had, the NYCTA had awarded the contract to Bombardier because of the Canadian government's financial plan for the cars. In addition, Budd was using unapproved and untested motors, and similarly untested technology had frequently broken down in the R44 and R46 contracts.[2]

These 825 cars were built between 1984 and 1987 and entered service between 1985 and 1988, though in August 1985, several cars were frequently taken out of service due to coupler and electrical problems.[4] They replaced the 1954-58 built R17/21/22 cars, which were all retired by early 1988.[2][3][4] The first thirty R62As, numbered 1651–1680, had their body shells built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and were shipped to Bombardier for their use as samples during their production. The first set of R62As was placed on the 1 on May 29, 1985.

Car 1909 was wrecked at Hunts Point Avenue in 1996 and disposed of on March 19, 2001.[5]

Description

The R62A series are numbered 1651-2475. Numbers 1901-1960 are single cars primarily for use on the 7 (based at Corona Yard in Queens) to make 11-car trains. Twenty 1900-series cars (#s 1927-1933, 1935-1937, 1940-1941, 1945-1946, 1950-1953, and 1955-1956) are reserved to run in service on the 42nd Street Shuttle, which uses three and four-car trains. Ten of these are used at a time while the rest are stored at Westchester Yard in the Bronx.[6] All other cars are in five-car sets, running on the 1 (based at 240th Street Yard in the Bronx), the 6 (based at the Westchester Yard in the Bronx), and the 7 (also based at Corona Yard in Queens).

The cars on the 6 and 7 feature LED lights on the sides of the cars around the rollsign where the service logo is indicated to help riders distinguish between an express train (red diamond) and a local train (green circle), clearly displaying whether a train is local or express. By contrast, the cars on the 1 and 42nd Street Shuttle lack these lights.[7]

The R62As use a different brake package than the majority of the fleet. Known as the "COBRA" configuration, it involves utilizing friction brakes on only one of the two trucks per car, meaning that there are no friction brakes on the number two truck of each car. This decreases overall wheel tread wear and dust resulting from brake applications, which in turn reduces maintenance costs. The R62As' brakes are manufactured by the New York Air Brake Company.

Replacement

Initial replacement of the R62As is currently scheduled for 2026 through 2027.[8] The MTA is in the process of putting the R62As through the SMS treatment, which consists of repainting bulkheads, rebuilding trucks, changing out floors, repainting damaged seats, and other minor interior work in order to extend useful service life and provide a smoother ride quality.[9][10] There are also proposals for mid-life technological upgrades for the R62As, including LED destination signs and automated announcements.[11]

Differences Between the R62s and R62As

The R62s and R62As look very similar to each other, but there are a few differences between the two car types.

See also

References

  1. ↑ New York Subway Barn Assignments. December 2014
  2. 1 2 3 "www.nycsubway.org: R-62 (Kawasaki) -- R-62A (Bombardier)". www.nycsubway.org. 1988. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  3. 1 2 "www.nycsubway.org: Chapter 11, Another Renewal for the IRT". www.nycsubway.org. 1998-04-10. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  4. 1 2 3 Feinman, Mark S. (2004-12-08). "www.nycsubway.org: The New York Transit Authority in the 1980s". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  5. ↑ New York Subway Barn Assignments. December 2014
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ State Of The Subway Cars Report (R32s-R188s)
  8. ↑ MTA Capital Program Oversight Committee Hearing, June 2010 (page 20)
  9. ↑ http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?111514
  10. ↑ http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?110375
  11. ↑ Request For Information No. 9003 | Integrated Communications System on NYCT R62/R62A and R68/R68A Class Rail Cars

Further reading

External links

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