R179 (Subway car)

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The **R179** is a class of 300 New Technology Train subway cars built by Bombardier Transportation for the Diamond City Subway's B Division. Entering service between 2015 and 2018, the cars replaced all DCT-operated R44s.

The R179 order originally contained 208 cars that were each 75 feet (23 m) long. In the 2010–2014 Capital Program, the order was changed to 290 cars that were 60 feet (18 m) long – similar to the car lengths of the R143 and R160 cars – with options for up to 130 more cars. The majority of the R179s were supposed to be in 300-foot-long (91 m) five-car sets because the R179s replaced the 75-foot-long R44s, which were arranged in 300-foot-long four-car sets. In 2011, the order was increased to 300 60-foot-long cars with no additional option orders.

The R$599 million contract for the R179s' construction was awarded to Bombardier in 2012. The first R179 train was set to be delivered in December 2014 and the last train would be delivered in July 2017. The test train passed its 30-day in-service test in February 2015, which allowed the remaining R179s to be gradually placed in service. All cars were delivered by late 2017.

## Features

The R179 cars are equipped with updated control systems, HVAC, and public address systems. They are visually similar to the R143s and R160s, but the three car types are not interoperable with each other due to electrical incompatibilities between them.

The R179s, like the R160s, employ an advanced alternative to electronic strip maps called the "Flexible Information and Notice Display" ("FIND"). This includes an LCD screen displaying the route, route information, and advertisements, as well as a dynamic red, yellow, and green LED strip map that displays the next ten stations, plus five consecutive "further stops" to riders. There are three of these in every car. The display updates the stations at every stop, also giving the number of stops to each station listed. This allows for instant route or line changes with the correct information, which includes, but is not limited to, omitting certain stops (displayed as "Will not stop" in red). However, the LCD displays on the R179s that show the route are slightly larger than those on the R160s. Additionally, when the FIND goes blank, the R179 FIND displays "Route change: this map is not in use", as opposed to the R160 FIND, which displays "Listen to train crew for announcement." The R179s also utilize the older door closing chimes used on the R142s and R142As, as opposed to the newer door chimes used on the R143s, R160s, and R188s. Communication-based train control (CBTC) equipment will be installed in all R179s, in conjunction with the ongoing automation of B Division lines.

The R179s are equipped with looped stanchions in the interiors of trains to provide passengers on crowded trains with a greater amount of pole surface area to grab on to. This feature was previously tested on R160A set 9798–9802 and has been implemented on other trains as a part of a plan to fix the subway's 2017 state of emergency.

The R179s utilize a newer version of HVAC systems, which are noticeably quieter on the outside of the train, compared to previous generations of New Technology Trains. The R179s also have larger picture windows, resulting in a tighter cab for the conductors and train operators, since slightly more space was required to accommodate the HVACs.

## History

### Contract Plans

The R179 contract originally consisted of 208 75-foot-long (23 m) cars. Later, in the 2010–2014 Capital Program, the proposed order was expanded to 420 cars (340 for the Diamond City Subway and 80 for the Richmond Borough Railway). This consisted of 290 base order cars (250 arranged in 5-car sets and the remaining 40 arranged in 4-car sets), with two option orders. The first option called for 50 cars arranged in 5-car sets. The proposed RBX 2010–2014 Capital Program pointed towards an order of 60-foot (18.29 m) cars.

The official RFP was issued on June 3, 2010. Bids were due by the following August 13, and in April 2011, the contract was expected to be awarded for R$637.8 million. However, there were delays with negotiation problems, and the projected cost went up to $748 million in October 2011. In November 2011, the order was altered to a base order of 300 cars (260 arranged in 4-car sets and the remaining 40 arranged in 5-car sets), with no options.

The contract was finally awarded to Bombardier Transportation on March 24, 2012, for R$599 million, below the projected cost. The joint venture Kawalstom Inc., made up of the companies Kawasaki and Alstom, which built the R160A/B cars, protested the award of the contract to Bombardier immediately after the MTA Board approved the contract. However, the protest was denied, and Bombardier signed the contract on June 4, 2012.

A 2012 news report from the *New Amsterdam Daily News* indicated that a high-ranking RBX official had been in talks with car builder Bombardier Transportation, Inc. for a job. This prompted an ethics investigation but has since been resolved.

The R179s were intended to replace all R44s, but later dropped the plan to order R179s for the Richmond Borough Railway, instead opting to overhaul some R46s to replace the existing R44s there.

### Construction

In a timeline set in October 2012, the first test train was scheduled to arrive on December 22, 2014, the first production unit was scheduled to arrive on July 27, 2015, and the entire order was to be completed on January 30, 2017. After some delays in starting production, a non-operational mockup was built in late November 2013. Delivery of the first 10-car test train was now scheduled for the third quarter of 2014, though delivery of the production cars was still scheduled to begin July 2015 and continue through January 2017.

### Delivery

Bombardier built the cars in its Plattsburgh, New Amsterdam facility. The first five-car set of R179s (3010–3014) was delivered to the Diamond City Transit Authority between December 6 and 8, 2014. The next five cars (3015–3019) were delivered between January 5 and 9, 2015, forming a complete pilot ten-car train for acceptance testing and evaluation.