| Designation | Division | Unit Numbers | Manufacturer | Years | Notes |
|---|
| R160A-1 | IND/BMT | 8313-8652 (4 car sets) | Alstom | 2005+ | 340 cars |
| R160A-2 | IND/BMT | 8653-8712 (5 car sets) | Alstom | 2005+ | 60 cars |
| R160B | IND/BMT | 8713-8972 (5 car sets) | Kawasaki | 2005+ | 260 cars |
| R160A option #1 | IND/BMT | ? | Alstom | 2008-2009 | 360 cars |
| R160B option #1 | IND/BMT | 8973-9232? | Kawasaki | 2008-2009 | 260 cars |
| Remaining R160 options | IND/BMT | ? | Alstom/Kawasaki | ? | 420 cars |
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The deal to purchase as many as 1,700 new subway cars for
the BMT/IND divisions was signed on July 30, 2002, between MTA New
York City Transit and the rail car builders Kawasaki Heavy Industries
of Japan and Alstom of France. The R160 fleet will be nearly identical
to the R143 cars built by Kawasaki. The initial contract for
$961,687,121, to be funded by the Federal Transit Administration,
covers 660 cars split between the two manufacturers (400 to Alstom,
260 to Kawasaki) . The contract includes an option for 620 additional
cars and a second option for 380 to 420 cars. The deal, including all
of the options, is worth over $2.3 billion and is probably the largest
rapid transit purchase in history.
On July 25, 2007, the MTA approved purchase of an
additional 620 R160 cars from Alstom and Kawasaki, under the options
previously negotiated, for a total value of $1.1 billion. Alstom
received orders for 360 additional cars and Kawasaki 260 cars. These
option orders would arrive in the 2008-2009 timeframe. The MTA has
remaining options for a further additional 420 cars.
The R160 order is intended to replace the following:
- Base order: 10 R-32 (GE overhauls), all R-38, all slant
R-40, 110 R-42 (Coney Island overhauls) -- 53 cars for service increases
- Option I (if taken): remaining R-32
- Option II (if taken): all R-40M, remaining R-42 -- possible 40
cars for service increases
The first R160A cars were delivered from Alstom's
Hornell, NY facility in December 2005. (car numbers 8653-8662). The
remainder of Alstom's base order of 400 cars will be delivered through
2008. The R160 body shells are being manufactured in Lapa, Brazil,
and outfitted in Hornell, NY.
The first of the R160B cars (car numbers 8713-8722) were
delivered from Kawasaki Heavy Industries from their facility in
Yonkers, NY, beginning July 20, 2005. Kawasaki plans to manufacture
their share of the R160 order at plants in Nebraska and in Yonkers,
NY.
The R160A and R160B cars feature a new electronic
interior route/stop display sign, called "FIND" (Flexible INformation
Display). This is a multicolor LCD screen displaying the route and
destination (and possibly, advertisements) and a multicolor LED strip
map which displays the next ten stations, plus five "further
stations". Each car will have multiple "FIND" displays. The
programmable LED stip map replaces a plastic card overlay which had a
fixed set of stations for a route printed on it, used in the R142 and
R143 cars. The LED system allows the conductor to reprogram the route
display on the fly.
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