The Metropolitan Transportation Authority sidelined Staten Island’s newest train cars just one month after their debut — and it’s not clear when exactly they’ll be back on the tracks.
Five shiny, new blue-and-silver R211 cars are sitting in the yard of the MTA’s Clifton Maitenance shop because of an issue with signal systems that was uncovered during routine testing, an MTA source said.
The issue comes as a blow to the rail system in “The Forgotten Borough,” with the cars part of a $1.4 billion buy that was supposed to upgrade Staten Island Railway’s antiquated cars.
“We are very committed to Staten Island,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber told reporters Monday. “I know it’s sport out there to take shots at the MTA, but we’re investing heavily in Staten Island. We’re determined to make sure that they have access.”
The new cars are still under warranty and repairs will not cost taxpayers, according to an MTA spokesperson who couldn’t say when the new cars would be back in service.
“It is not surprising that during the initial roll out of any train car fleet, some systems would need attention as was the case here. We expect the R211’s to be on the rails as normal soon,” the spokesperson said.
The five cars were part of a 535 car order the MTA placed with manufacturer Kawasaki in 2018 worth an estimated $1.4 billion – making each car worth around $2.6 million.
They are the first of 75 to be used on Staten Island’s rails to replace most of the trains there, according to the Staten Island Advance, which first reported on the issue.
When the cars launched MTA bragged in a press release they would have “state-of-the-art amenities” like wider doorways for quicker loading and unloading, and the cars were a “critical part” of the MTA’s ongoing modernization efforts.
The new cars were supposed to be six times more reliable than cars in the current fleet and able to travel an average of 240,000 miles between replacements and major repairs, according to the release.
In October 2022, the MTA announced the MTA Board had approved an order for an additional 640 of the R211 subway cars.
The agency pulled six new R211 rail cars out of service last year in October due to equipment problems that time just months after the high-tech trains were unveiled.
