R142A (New York City Subway car)

The R142A is the second order of new technology cars (NTTs) for the A Division of the New York City Subway. These cars were built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in the U.S. at Yonkers, New York and Lincoln, Nebraska, and in Japan at Kobe, Hyōgo. They replaced the Redbird trains, including the R26, R28, R29, R33, R33S, and R36. The R142A fleet initially comprised 600 cars, arranged as five-car units.

The first R142As were delivered on December 20, 1999. The cars initially experienced minor issues while undergoing testing, but entered service on July 10, 2000, as part of its 30-day revenue acceptance test. After successful completion, the cars entered revenue service by November 2, 2000. The fleet initially ran on the and  services of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. The R142As, along with the R142s, are the first New York City Subway cars to feature recorded announcements. In 2010–2016, 380 cars (7211–7590) were retrofitted with communications-based train control (CBTC) for the automation of the Flushing Line and became part of the R188 fleet, leaving 220 cars (7591–7810) in the R142A fleet. In January 2019, the MTA has proposed mid-life upgrades to the remainder of the R142As.

Description
The R142As are numbered 7591–7810. They were originally numbered 7211–7810 when built, but cars 7211–7590 were converted into R188s.

The R142A contract was divided into three sub-orders: 400 main order cars (7211–7610), 120 option order cars (7611–7730), and 80 cars built under a supplemental contract (R142S) in 2004–2005 to supplement the R142As (7731–7810). Regardless of sub-order differences, all R142As are mechanically and physically identical to each other.

Currently, all R142As are maintained at the Jerome Yard and assigned to the.

Features


The R142As feature Bombardier MITRAC propulsion systems, electronic braking, automatic climate control, electronic strip maps, interior and exterior electronic displays, and an on-board intercom system. The traction motors that are present on the R142As were later used for the R143 and R188 fleets; the same traction motors would also be used for the Type 8 light rail vehicles on the Green Line of the MBTA and the CQ31x rail fleet of the MARTA rail system. The R142 and the R142A were partly designed by Antenna Design.

The R142As are divided up into five-car sets, in the A-B-B-B-A configuration, with the two A cars (cab cars) on the ends, and three B cars (non-cab cars) in the middle. Trains consist of two five-car sets coupled together, making up a ten-car train. Like all other A-Division cars, each car has three sets of doors per side. Like the R110As, the R142As feature wider doors than past A-Division equipment, with 54-inch side doors (about 9 inches narrower than the R110As' 63-inch doors, but 4 inches wider than the R62/As' 50-inch doors). All car ends have windows, allowing passengers to see through to the next car, except cab ends, where the cab walls prevent such visibility. The R142A car bodies are constructed from stainless steel.

The R142As and R142s are the first New York City Subway cars to feature recorded announcements. All passenger cars built after them also use this feature. The R142As are visually very similar to the R142s and R188s, but due to electrical incompatibilities, the three types are not interoperable; only converted R142As that feature CBTC can interoperate with the R188s.

Experimental features
From late 2017 to late 2018, the interiors of the electronic sign boxes on cars 7691–7692 were retrofitted with LCD screens, replacing the MTA Arts for Transit cards usually located there. Several R160s were previously retrofitted with this feature. The screens were similar to the interior LED screens on the R143s, except that the R142As' screens had the capabilities to display multiple colors instead of only red, orange, and green.

Delivery
The first ten R142As, 7211–7220, were delivered on December 20, 1999. The cars were placed into service on the on July 10, 2000, as part of its 30-day revenue acceptance test, after several months of non-revenue service testing and the resolving of all issues. After successful completion, it entered revenue service on November 2, 2000. The R142A fleet originally only ran on the ; the first R142As assigned to the started running on July 25, 2002.

During delivery, there were minor issues reported with the R142s and the R142As.

By October 29, 2002, all R142As would have entered passenger service.

In mid-2003, the MTA purchased a supplemental order of 80 additional R142As (7731–7810) for service increases. These cars were constructed and delivered in 2004–2005, and by June 2005, all were in service.

Post-delivery
Cars 7211–7590 (a total of 380 cars) have been retrofitted with CBTC for the Flushing Line CBTC service and were converted to R188s. The first R142As (7211–7220) were sent out to the Kawasaki Rail Car plant in Yonkers in 2011 for conversion to R188s. The last R142As (7581–7590) to be sent to the Kawasaki Rail Car plant were removed from service on March 18, 2016, and by the next month had also been sent to the plant.

Cars 7591–7810 (the remaining 220 cars) are still part of the R142A fleet and will be retrofitted with CBTC hardware in the future. To prepare for the arrival of the R62As for use on the 6 train, 65 unconverted R142As (7591–7595 & 7611–7670) were transferred from the to the  in November 2017, and the last 15 R142As (7596–7610) were transferred from the  to the  on May 22, 2018.

In January 2019, the MTA proposed mid-life upgrades to several train subsystems in the R142 and R142A fleets. These included changes to the HVAC, propulsion, and door systems, based on installations of these systems in the R188 fleet. Upgrades also included the conversion of the remaining R142A fleet to be compatible with communications-based train control, in conjunction with subway signal upgrades along the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.