In 2018, the MTA signed a $1.75 billion contract with Kawasaki for 535 R211 subway cars.

NYMTA: Labor Problems at Kawasaki Nebraska Plant Delaying Deliveries (UPDATED June 30)

According to New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials, labor shortages and mismanagement at a Nebraska plant where Kawasaki railcars set to replace aging ones on New York City Transit’s subway and

PTSI Transportation has supplied a Route Learning System™ to Santa Clara VTA for use in its new technical training center.

Transit Briefs: NYMTA, Santa Clara VTA

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) has set a new record for pandemic-era subway ridership. Also, Santa Clara Valley (Calif.) Transportation Authority (VTA) has taken delivery of a Route Learning System™ to help qualify light rail operators.

Richard Davey, incoming President, MTA New York City Transit

Richard Davey to Lead NYCT

Former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey has been named President of MTA New York City Transit (NYCT), effective May 2.

Amtrak told The Mercury in Pennsylvania that it is “starting a planning process with local and state officials, including PennDOT, to study the possibilities of bringing Amtrak passenger trains to Reading, Phoenixville and Pottstown.” (Amtrak/Emily Moser)

Transit Briefs: Amtrak, NYCT

Amtrak is eying express bus service to connect Reading and Pottstown with Philadelphia, Pa., as a precursor to reestablishing passenger rail service. Also, earlier this month, MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) subway ridership surpassed the 3 million mark for three consecutive days, the first time since the Omicron variant was reported in the city on Dec. 17, 2021.

Pictured: MTA New York City Transit's 86th Street Second Avenue Subway Station

Now Advancing: New York’s Second Avenue Subway Phase 2

Phase 2 of MTA New York City Transit’s Second Avenue Subway project is moving ahead, the agency reported on Jan. 6.

Commentary

Swan Song for NYCT ‘Brightliners’

The year was 1964. Lyndon Johnson was campaigning for re-election as President, hoping his “Great Society” and “War on Poverty” programs would help the country, although the nation’s involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating and would later trigger his downfall. “Beatlemania” swept the country, as the “Fab Four” from Liverpool dominated the charts, with only the emerging Motown Sound from Detroit giving them any competition. The nation’s passenger train network was still gigantic compared to what we have on Amtrak today, but it was shrinking fast. Rail transit in the cities that still had it was shrinking, too. In New York, though, the second World’s Fair in 25 years was taking place in Flushing, Queens, and the “Brightliner” subway cars made their first appearance.

NYCT: Farewell, ‘Brightliners’

MTA New York City Transit’s Budd-built R-32s—dubbed the Brightliners for their gleaming stainless steel bodies—will retire after 58 years of service.

Brookville ‘Pumping Up’ Retired Subway Cars

Four MTA New York City Transit R110A New Technology Train subway cars, originally built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in 1992 and retired in 1998, are finding new life as two-car pump trains to be used for flooding mitigation in NYCT’s subway system, through a contract awarded to Brookville Equipment Corporation.

WOMEN IN RAIL 2021

RAILWAY AGE, NOVEMBER 2021 ISSUE: Railway Age’s Women in Rail awards recognize leaders for driving their businesses forward while making a difference in the industry and in their communities.

Transit Briefs: NYMTA; St. Louis Metro Transit

At New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, subway ridership is steadily climbing post-pandemic and two former Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointees are being forced out. In addition, behavioral health providers will ride St. Louis (Mo.) Metro Transit vehicles as part of a one-year pilot project.

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