The Metropolitan Transit Authority sidelined Staten Island’s latest prepare vehicles only one month after their debut — and it’s not clear when precisely they’ll be again on the tracks.
5 shiny, new blue-and-silver R211 vehicles are sitting within the yard of the MTA’s Clifton Maitenance store due to a problem with sign programs that was uncovered throughout routine testing, an MTA supply stated.
The problem comes as a blow to the rail system in “The Forgotten Borough,” with the vehicles a part of a $1.4 billion purchase that was purported to improve Staten Island Railway’s antiquated vehicles.
“We’re very dedicated to Staten Island,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber instructed reporters Monday. “I do know it’s sport on the market to take pictures on the MTA, however we’re investing closely in Staten Island. We’re decided to ensure that they’ve entry.”
The brand new vehicles are nonetheless below guarantee and repairs won’t value taxpayers, based on an MTA spokesperson who couldn’t say when the brand new vehicles could be again in service.
“It isn’t stunning that through the preliminary roll out of any prepare automobile fleet, some programs would wish consideration as was the case right here. We count on the R211’s to be on the rails as regular quickly,” the spokesperson stated.
The 5 vehicles have been a part of a 535 automobile order the MTA positioned with producer Kawasaki in 2018 value an estimated $1.4 billion – making every automobile value round $2.6 million.
They’re the primary of 75 for use on Staten Island’s rails to interchange many of the trains there, based on the Staten Island Advance, which first reported on the difficulty.
When the vehicles launched MTA bragged in a press launch they might have “state-of-the-art facilities” like wider doorways for faster loading and unloading, and the vehicles have been a “important half” of the MTA’s ongoing modernization efforts.
The brand new vehicles have been purported to be six occasions extra dependable than vehicles within the present fleet and capable of journey a mean of 240,000 miles between replacements and main repairs, based on the discharge.
In October 2022, the MTA introduced the MTA Board had authorized an order for a further 640 of the R211 subway vehicles.
The company pulled six new R211 rail vehicles out of service final 12 months in October as a result of gear issues that point simply months after the high-tech trains have been unveiled.
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