New York Retires Iconic Subway Cars 24
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced plans to retire its iconic R46 subway cars, triggering nostalgia among New Yorkers who cherished their distinctive seating arrangement. The fleet -- which has served A, C, N, R, Q, and W lines for five decades -- will be replaced by R211 cars expected for delivery in 2027.
The R46's perpendicular seating configuration, designed for comfort during long trips to destinations like Coney Island, encouraged social interaction among passengers, according to New York Transit Museum director Concetta Bencivenga. The new R211 cars will feature longitudinal seating to improve passenger flow and reduce platform waiting times. Currently, 696 of the original 754 R46 cars remain in service. The replacement R211 cars will include security cameras, wider seats, improved signage, and better lighting.
The R46's perpendicular seating configuration, designed for comfort during long trips to destinations like Coney Island, encouraged social interaction among passengers, according to New York Transit Museum director Concetta Bencivenga. The new R211 cars will feature longitudinal seating to improve passenger flow and reduce platform waiting times. Currently, 696 of the original 754 R46 cars remain in service. The replacement R211 cars will include security cameras, wider seats, improved signage, and better lighting.
Improved fire suppression? (Score:3)
Just asking.
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I am sure there are many perfectly valid reasons to retire them. Nevertheless, I have always liked railways since I was a kid so I can understand the nostalgia.
We had a trecel train bridge going right over the town where I lived as a kid. I used to go to the station up the cliff and talk with the station chief. He gave me an official company timetable of all trains including freight trains so when I was in primary school, I could watch the trains going over the trecel while sitting at my desk in school and
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Re: Improved fire suppression? (Score:2)
Some follow-up questions:
How many notches do these cars have on their belts?
What's the subway equivalent term for roadkill?
Aside from long bacon of course, which doesn't count because that happens inside the car, not under it.
Of course (Score:2)
The replacement R211 cars will include security cameras, wider seats, improved signage, and better lighting.
Wider seats? Obviously.
"encouraged social interaction among passengers" (Score:2)
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Whoever said that was certainly not a native New Yorker.
Re:"encouraged social interaction among passengers (Score:4, Insightful)
It's... complicated. You can design communities to encourage socialization and you will end up with happier people, but at the same time it seems creepy to force it. But if you don't do this, effectively what you're doing is designing communities to encourage isolation, which seems like exactly the opposite of looking out for the general welfare of the people you're building things for.
As long as introverts aren't being strapped to a chair in the middle of a sharing circle, designing infrastructure to support people socializing is probably a good idea.
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If you look at the new subway car, what they've done is eliminate most of the seating. What they're doing here is slyly selling a worse customer experience -- having to stand -- as a better one -- not having a seatmate who might talk to you.
I wonder whether this is whether part of a general trend of incorporating hostile architecture into New York transit. They're also removing seating from MTA train stations and the Port Authority designed their bus terminals to have no place to sit.
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No thank you, and I don't think that should be your job.
Just throwing this out there... I didn't take it that riders were expected to socialize with randos. I'd think this layout would be great for groups of more than two people who know each other, so they can face each other and converse.
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Local News? (Score:4, Insightful)
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"Are stories about Kansas City next?"
Is that Kansas City, KS or Kansas City, MO
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Many of us non-New Yorkers have ridden, suffered through music, witnessed crimes, and absolutely not bought food from "vendors" on R46s. Nostalgia for Nerds. Pour one out for the old cars . . .
Is Kansas City getting new subway cars? Now that would be something!
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This is local news. Why does somebody outside of the New York area care?
I'm not from New York. I'm interested it what life is like on the everyday trains that New Yorkers use. I'm also interested in the similarities it has with the trains in my home city and there are some. I was looking at Tokyo's metro system yesterday and when I saw this article on New York's trains I thought it would be useful to learn the experiences of locals in the threads so I have some useful information when I visit.
Akin to Star Trek News...nerds like trains (Score:2)
This is local news. Why does somebody outside of the New York area care? Are stories about Kansas City next?
Half the engineers I know are obsessed with trains to an odd degree. I enjoy riding on my local subway, but not to the degree my son or many of my coworkers are. Trains are explicitly mentioned in many autism questionnaires..."does your child exhibit unusually intense interest in specific topics, like trains?" Many autistic kiddos love stemming with trains...especially watching them race by.
:)
While nerd != autism...let's be real...the two are closely correlated.
As someone who is not from NY and h
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So iconic, they apparently keep them a secret. (Score:2)
Like I didn't even know they had cars with this seating layout until now. Every TV show and movie that shows "the New York subway" has the cars with the lengthwise bench on either side.
Re: So iconic, they apparently keep them a secret. (Score:1)
sorry (Score:2)
So sorry to see them go. Those cars are where I experience some of my most memorable muggings.
Phew! (Score:2)
You know you're old... (Score:2)
Nostaligia? (Score:2)