MTA’s gleaming new subway cars taken out of service for faulty gearboxes, flat wheels

The MTA is having problems with its new R211 subway cars, and have pulled at least one of the new trains from service.

Nearly all of the MTA’s brand new subway cars are off the rails.

Six out of seven trains made up of the newest R211 cars have been taken out of service due to faulty gearboxes, the agency confirmed Thursday.

Subway operators explained to Gothamist the gearboxes on trains are similar to the gears that run the chain on a bike and keep its wheels turning. If one is damaged on a subway train, the wheels can lock up and drag. And when the steel wheels drag, they can become flat, causing the train to bump and clank as it rolls down the tracks.

A video posted online last week appears to show that happening, with a new R211 train noisily rumbling through the Nostrand Avenue station on the A line as it’s removed from service.

MTA officials didn’t comment directly on the video.

“During routine operations of R211 subway cars in service, New York City Transit crews discovered a faulty gear box in some of the cars,” Eugene Resnick, an MTA spokesperson, wrote in an email. “As is the case whenever we identify an issue with a particular subway car model, we have temporarily removed the affected trains from service until further testing is complete.”

Since August, the MTA has said it was putting two new R211 trains — each made up of 10 cars — into service each month. Officials described the cars as “cutting edge, top of the line, faster, cleaner and safer.” The new models would have “more reliable service,” MTA officials said.

The R211 trains currently run on the A line. The MTA said no train service was affected.

One of the new trains was also pulled from service in April after it was hit with graffiti.

The MTA often has problems with its new train sets. In early 2020 the MTA pulled all of its then-newest subway cars from service due to a faulty door mechanism. Those trains — called R179s —- were manufactured by Bombardier and delivered nearly three years behind schedule.

The problems with the R211s follow more manufacturing delays from Kawasaki, which in 2018 inked a $1.44 billion contract to deliver 535 of the new subway cars. The first of the new cars arrived more than a year late. The MTA board last year approved the purchase of another 640 R211 cars from Kawasaki for $1.78 billion.

At this week’s MTA board meeting, MTA Chair Janno Lieber called for more competition in the railcar market. He noted a federal mandate requires the MTA to buy U.S.-made train cars. Only two U.S.-based companies manufacture the train cars: Kawasaki, which has plants in Nebraska and Yonkers, and Alstom, which acquired Bombardier in 2021.

“We really have to be taking action to grow the competitive market for rail cars and buses,” Lieber said.

New York City Transit President Richard Davey called the mechanical problems "a warranty issue," emphasizing that taxpayers will not pay for the fixes. He predicted the trains will be back in service in weeks.

This story has been updated with information from the MTA on how many of the R211 trains have been taken out of service and comment from NYCT President Richard Davey.