From: mrbrklyn@panix.com   
      
   https://gothamist.com/news/mtas-gleaming-new-subway-cars-taken-o   
   t-of-service-for-faulty-gearboxes-flat-wheels   
      
   MTA’s gleaming new subway cars taken out of service for faulty gearboxes,   
   flat wheels   
   By Stephen NessenPublished Oct 26, 2023Modified Oct 26, 2023Shar   
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   3–4 minutes   
      
   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 Dave   
      
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