The R142 is the first successful model class of the newest generation or new technology A Division cars for the New York City Subway. It was built by Bombardier Transportation in La Pocatiere, Quebec and Barre, Vermont with final assembly performed at Plattsburgh, New York, from 1999 to 2003. There are 880 cars numbered 6301–7180 and another 150 cars numbered 1101–1250, for a total of 1,030 cars, all arranged as five-car sets. They replaced the Redbird trains, including the R26, R28, R29, R33, R33S, and R36. The R142s, along with the similar but different R142As, are the first New York City Subway cars to feature recorded announcements. The first R142As were delivered on November 16, 1999, though they initially experienced minor issues were reported while undergoing testing. Following the completion of testing, the R142s were placed into revenue service on July 10, 2000, and by 2003, all cars were delivered. In January 2019, the MTA proposed mid-life upgrades to the R142 fleet.
Description
880 of the R142s are numbered 6301–7180, and the remaining 150 cars are numbered 1101–1250. There are two types of cars: "A" and "B". "A" cars are powered with four traction motors each, with the passenger doors opposite each other. The "B" cars are powered by two traction motors at the number-two end, and the passenger doors are staggered. The trains are linked up in 5-car, A-B-B-B-A sets, but also can be linked in sets of 4 cars, 6 cars, 9 cars, or 11 cars. Currently, most R142s are maintained at the 239th Street Yard and East 180th Street Yard and assigned on the and, with the remaining sets maintained at the Jerome Yard and assigned to the.
Features
The R142s feature Alstom ONIX ACpropulsion systems, electronic braking, automatic climate control, electronic strip maps, and an on-board intercom system. The R142 and the R142A was partly designed by Antenna Design. Like the R110As, the R142s feature wider doors than past A-Division equipment, with 54-inch side doors. All car ends have windows, allowing passengers to see through to the next car, except cab ends, where the cab walls prevent such visibility. The R142 car bodies are constructed from stainless steel.
Recorded announcements
The R142s and R142As are the first New York City Subway cars to feature recorded announcements. All passenger cars built after them also use this feature. Current recorded announcements are by:
Charlie Pellett: announcements to warn passengers of the closing doors, last stop announcements, and current transfer and connection announcements at select stations; formerly provided safety/delay announcements.
Velina Mitchell: current safety and delay announcements. She also recorded the stop announcement for WTC Cortlandt and Franklin Avenue stations, as well as transfer announcements at selected stations referencing the M14-SBS bus route.
Melissa Kleiner originally provided announcements for the outside of Manhattan, but the announcements have since been re-recorded by Ettinger. The first three people listed were news anchors with Bloomberg Radio at the time the announcements were recorded. Since then, Ettinger and Pellett have moved to 1010 WINS-AM and Sirius Satellite Radio, working with Howard Stern and his Howard 100 News team. Newer, shorter announcements have been tested on some sets on the 2 and 5 since 2015 in an effort to reduce dwell times and subsequently reduce the likelihood of delays.
History
On April 30, 1997, the Board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved the purchase of 680 cars from Bombardier and 400 cars from Kawasaki. The original purchase order was for 740 cars, but because of the intense competition between the firms, the MTA was able to purchase 340 additional cars at the same price. The entire cost of the purchase was $1.45 billion. The new subway cars were based on the results of the tests from the R110A and R110B test trains. The historic deal came after round-the-clock negotiations and the contract was the largest subway car purchase in the history of the New York City Subway up to this point. The first ten R142s, 6301–6310, were delivered on November 16, 1999. However, minor issues were reported to be found and have since been corrected during troubleshooting during the testing phase. After several months of testing and troubleshooting of all bugs, the R142s were placed into revenue service on the on July 10, 2000, and the last R142s were delivered by mid-2003. In January 2019, the MTA proposed mid-life upgrades to several train subsystems in the R142/A fleets. These included changes to the HVAC, propulsion, and door systems; the addition of Ethernet on the R142 fleet; and conversion of the fleet to be compatible with communications-based train control, in conjunction with subway signal upgrades along the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. The R142 fleet would also be retrofitted with a "monitoring and diagnostics system". On March 27, 2020, a northbound 2 train with operating lead consist 6346-6350 and trailing consist 6366-6370 caught fire while traveling from 96th Street to Central Park North–110th Street. The fire erupted on board car 6347, damaging that car, as well as additional fire and smoke damage to the rest of the set, along with some moderate fire damage to the station as well. As a result, the whole set has been taken out of service. The train operator was killed and 16 people were injured.
