The MTA’s Transit and Bus Committee voted Monday to add more than 400 new R211 subway cars, including dozens of “open-gangway” cars, to its fleet of trains in NYC.
Transit authority officials said that by early 2025, at least two open-gangway trains, which allow passengers to walk between train cars, will launch on the G line through Brooklyn and Queens. Additionally, 355 traditional train cars with improved features will start rolling on the tracks by 2027.
“What is on the agenda today is actually hugely exciting for riders,” MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber explained at the start of the committee meeting. “And, part of the fun here is that we are really going into — in a big way — the open-gangway business. It’s going to be OG on the G!”
Lieber said trains with an open gangway, similar to an articulated bus, will help alleviate overcrowding because they allow passengers to move between cars safely. Open gangway trains debuted earlier this year on the C line in Manhattan.
“Our friends in Greenpoint, people who ride the G and are passionate about transit, I know, are going to welcome getting new trains,” he said.
By Barbara Russo-Lennon. Read more at AMNY.com.
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