USA: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA, put into revenue service a five-car trainset on the 22.5 km urban Staten Island Railway.
Each car is fitted with four doors on each side up to 58 inches (about 1,470 mm) wide, which is 8 inches (200 mm) wider than the current fleet. This should make passenger boarding and alighting faster by 32%. The new trains are to replace the R44 series by the local St. Louis Car Company, produced in 1971–1973.
The R211S metro train from Kawasaki Rail in New York. Source: MTA
The framework contract, signed in early 2018, envisaged the supply of 535 R211 cars in three modifications. The implemented 2022 option worth $3.2 increased the volume up to 1,175 cars. The trains are produced at two Kawasaki Rail plants in Lincoln and Yonkers, the US.
April 2023 saw the MTA launch first R211A metro train on the A Line, while the R211T’s debut took place on the С Line in February.
