MTA rail-car testing facility has opened near the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and now gives the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) a central hub to process new subway cars purchased for New York City Transit, as reported by Progressive Railroading.

MTA rail-car testing facility prepares New York’s new fleet
Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority

How the MTA rail-car testing facility supports commissioning?

The new hub, located beside the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, can take delivery of subway cars by truck, rail or boat before they are moved onto in-house tracks for testing and commissioning. Because the facility is directly tied into the subway network, trains then complete additional testing on live infrastructure before they start revenue service.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

According to an MTA press release, the complex can also process and test locomotives and other rolling stock used by the authority’s passenger railroads beyond New York City Transit.

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“The facility consolidates work that was once spread amongst different yards and unites it all under one roof,” said Jamie Torres-Springer, president of MTA Construction and Development. The press release announcing the opening did not disclose the total construction cost.

New R211 subway cars and $11 billion rolling stock investment

The MTA is using the site to support a large fleet renewal built around more than 1,500 new R211 and R268 subway cars ordered for New York City Transit. The rolling stock investment is valued at $11 billion, making it the authority’s largest such purchase since the 1980s and allowing it to replace the decades-old R46 and R68 trains.

R268 subway cars, B division lines and CBTC-ready fleet

Of the R211 subway cars, 750 have already arrived, with another 860 still to come. These trains are currently in service on the Staten Island Railway and the A, B, C and G lines, with plans to extend operations to the D Line and the Rockaway Park Shuttle within the next two years.

The MTA board has also approved the purchase of 378 R268 subway cars, which share many of the same amenities as the R211 fleet and, as previously covered by Railway Supply, are scheduled to enter service on B division lines in 2028. The capital plan further provides for new cars for the A division, and all of the new subway equipment will be compatible with communications-based train control, MTA officials said.

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