R62A (New York City Subway car)

"R62A" redirects here. For the road, see Route 62.

R62A (New York City Subway car)
250px An R62A train on the leaving 125th Street.
250px Interior of an R62A car.
In service	1985–present
Manufacturer	Bombardier
Built at	La Pocatière, Quebec; Barre, Vermont (final assembly)
Replaced	R17, R21, R22
Constructed	1984–1987
Number built	825
Number in service	824 (679 in revenue service during rush hours)
Number scrapped	1 (No. 1909)
Formation	5-car sets (1651–1900, 1961–2475) singles (1901–1960) 3-car sets (TBD)
Fleet numbers	1651-2475
Capacity	42 (A Car, full-width cab at one end) 44 (B Car, half-width cabs at both ends)
Operator(s)	New York City Subway
Depot(s)	240th Street Yard, Corona Yard, Pelham Yard
Service(s) assigned	– 310 cars  – 260 cars  – 99 cars  – 10 cars
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless steel with fiberglass end bonnets
Train length	3-car train: 153.12 feet (46.67 m) 4-car train: 204.16 feet (62.23 m) 10-car train: 510.4 feet (155.6 m) 11-car train: 561.44 feet (171.13 m)
Car length	51.04 feet (15.56 m)
Width	8.60 feet (2,621 mm)
Height	11.89 feet (3,624 mm)
Platform height	3.65 ft (1.11 m)
Doors	6 per car
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight	75,550 lb (34,270 kg)
Traction system	Adtranz E-Cam Propulsion with 4 Westinghouse 1447J motors per car
Power output	115 hp (85.8 kW) per axle
Acceleration	2.5 mph/s (4.0 km/(h⋅s))
Auxiliaries	SAFT NIFE PR80F Battery SAFT SMT8 Battery
Electric system(s)	625 V DC Third rail
Current collection method	Contact shoe
Braking system(s)	NYAB GSX23 Newtran “COBRA SMEE” Braking System NYAB Tread Brake Unit
Safety system(s)	emergency brakes
Coupling system	Westinghouse H2C
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The R62A is a New York City Subway car built between 1984 and 1987 by Bombardier in La Pocatiere, Quebec, with final assembly done in Barre, Vermont under a license from Kawasaki.

History

Following the successful delivery of the 325-car R62 order from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) put out a bid for an additional 825 cars to replace the aging R17/21/22 cars, which had all been built in 1954–8. Kawasaki did not want to build another 325 cars, so the R62A contract was awarded to Bombardier Transportation of Quebec, who won the bid over Budd Company of Pennsylvania. While Bombardier had offered a higher price per car than Budd had, the NYCTA had awarded the contract to Bombardier because of the Canadian government's financial plan for the cars. In addition, Budd was using unapproved and untested motors, and similarly untested technology had frequently broken down in the R44 and R46 contracts.

These 825 cars were built between 1984 and 1987 and entered service between 1985 and 1988, though in August 1985, several cars were frequently taken out of service due to coupler and electrical problems. They replaced the 1954-58 built R17/21/22 cars, which were all retired by early 1988. The first thirty R62As, numbered 1651–1680, had their body shells built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and were shipped to Bombardier for their use as samples during their production. The first set of R62As was placed on the on May 29, 1985.

Description

The R62A series are numbered 1651-2475. Numbers 1901-1960 are single cars primarily for use on the (based at Corona Yard in Queens) to make 11-car trains. Twenty (20) 1900-series cars (#s 1927-1933, 1935-1937, 1940-1941, 1945-1946, 1950-1953, and 1955-1956) are reserved to run in service on the 42nd Street Shuttle, which uses three and four-car trains. Ten of these are used at a time while the rest are stored at Westchester Yard in the Bronx. All other cars are in five-car sets, running on the (based at 240th Street Yard in the Bronx), the (based at the Westchester Yard in the Bronx), and the .

The cars on the and feature LED lights on the sides of the cars around the rollsign where the service logo is indicated to help riders distinguish between an express train (red diamond) and a local train (green circle), clearly displaying whether a train is local or express. By contrast, the cars on the and lack these lights.

Car 1909 was wrecked at Hunts Point Avenue in 1996 and disposed of on March 19, 2001.

The R62As use a different brake package than the majority of the fleet. Known as the "COBRA" configuration, it involves utilizing friction brakes on only one of the two trucks per car, meaning that there are no friction brakes on the number two truck of each car. This decreases overall wheel tread wear and dust resulting from brake applications, which in turn reduces maintenance costs. The R62As' brakes are manufactured by the New York Air Brake Company.

The MTA is in the process of putting the R62As through the SMS treatment, which consists of repainting bulkheads, rebuilding trucks, changing out floors, repainting damaged seats, and other minor interior work in order to extend useful service life and provide a smoother ride quality. There are also proposals for mid-life technological upgrades for the R62As, including LED destination signs and automated announcements.

Initial replacement of the R62As is currently scheduled for 2026 through 2027.

Gallery

• MTA and I Love NY campaign (10409857565).jpg

  R62A train with I Love New York advertisements.

• An R62A rollsign with LED green circle.jpg

  Green circle denotes a local train.

• An R62A rollsign with LED red diamond.jpg

  Red diamond denotes an express train.

• R62A SMS Interior 2406 1 Train.JPG

  Interior of an R62A car that has undergone the SMS treatment.

• R62A 42nd Street Shuttle.JPG

  An R62A train on Track 3 at Grand Central.

See also

• R62 (New York City Subway car) - a similar model built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Corp.

Further reading

• Sansone, Gene. Evolution of New York City subways: An illustrated history of New York City's transit cars, 1867-1997. New York Transit Museum Press, New York, 1997 ISBN 978-0-9637492-8-4

External links

• nycsubway.org - NYC Subway Cars: R62/R62A
• Car Status/Assignment
• IRT Car Assignments - December 6, 2015
• New York City Subway Car Fleet June 2010 through December 2015