Doors Opening On Moving Subway Forced MTA To Yank $600M Fleet

NEW YORK CITY — The MTA pulled its $600 million subway car fleet from circulation this week after doors opened on a moving train with passengers on board, transit officials said Thursday.

The R179 car — one of about 300 "lemons" the MTA bought from manufacturer Bombardier — was deemed unfit for service on Jan. 7, two weeks after a C train's doors popped open 4 inches on Christmas Eve, according to New York City Transit President Andy Byford.

When another car exhibited similar problems about 10 days later, investigators found evidence of what could be a systematic design problem, Byford said at a press conference at MTA headquarters.

"You don't withdraw a fleet lightly," Bydord said. "I saw enough to say to me, 'I won't this whole fleet checked.'"

The two incidents — the first on a southbound C train near High Street and the second at Jay Street-MetroTech — spurred transit officials to remove the entire fleet and replace them with older cars as Bombardier and the MTA investigate the problem.

Bombardier informed the MTA of the problem of Jan. 7 and the cars were pulled from the tracks that same night, thanks to a "Herculean" effort on the part of MTA workers, Byford said.

In four days since the R179s were pulled, 24 of the 298 cars have been inspected and none have been approved to reenter circulation, Byford said.

"We will not rush any cars back into service," Byford said. "It will take as long as it safely takes."

Older replacement cars are now running on A, C and J lines and one had broken down as of Jan. 9, according to transit officials.

No car will go back into service until it gets a stamp of approval from independent, third- party experts from the firm LTK and new software that will monitor the cars' status, said Byford.

The MTA will consider legal action against the manufacturers in hopes of recovering the cost of the fleet.

"We intend to hold Bombardier wholly responsible," Byford said.

An audit from Comptroller Scott Stringer's office found repairs had cost the city about $35 million as of December 2019.

Stringer said Wednesday the MTA's lack of oversight was to blame for the "lemon" train cars the MTA received three years late, but Byford pointed blame at the manufacturers.

"We have, from day one, held Bombarider to account," he said. "We’re the customer."

Byford added the MTA had secured 18 free cars from Bombardier after they missed a string of deadlines.

The MTA only had to pull 298 cars as 20 had already been removed from service because of problems with brakes, heating, ventilation and doors, according to the Comptroller's audit.

The R179s represent about 4.5 percent of the MTA's 6716 car fleet, according to the MTA.

At the press conference, Byford was asked whether there was ever a risk the train doors could have opened completely.

“I’m not taking that risk," Byford replied. "That’s why we’ve taken this train out service."