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Vintage subway car
Photograph: MTA

It's your last chance to ride these historic 1960s subway cars in New York

They're retiring!

Anna Rahmanan
Written by
Anna Rahmanan
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Ah, the subway: A New Yorker's greatest ally and worst enemy. No matter how we spin it, there is just something romantic about our transportation system, which is why we are keen to celebrate it any time we can and for whatever reason.

Case in point: The MTA just announced that after 58 years in service, the R32 subway cars—also known as the Brightliners given the horizontal shiny and unpainted stainless exteriors they were given—will be officially retiring, taking their final runs this week and next.

"As we continue the work to modernize the transit system and improve the customer experience, it is truly bittersweet to say farewell to a fleet of historic R-32 trains that have served New Yorkers for nearly six decades," said Craig Cipriano, the New York City Transit Interim President, in an official statement. "A significant amount of history goes along with these trains and we’re delighted that we are able to offer the opportunity to ride them one—or even a few—more times in their final days."

The mass-produced, stainless-steel cars purchased by the MTA back in the mid-1960s are easy to spot: they're the last ones made that feature a front window that passengers can look out of. You might have also seen them in movies like Joker, Bridge of Spies and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

To celebrate their retirement, the MTA has organized some last runs on the F, D and Q that New Yorkers can join in on for the next few Sundays.

Here are the details:

December 26, 2021 and January 2, 2022

- Departs 2nd Av Station on the F line at 10am, NOON, 2pm and 4pm, making all express stops to 145th St Station on the D line
- Departs 145th St Station on the D line at 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm, making all express stops to the 2nd Ave Station on the F line

January 9, 2022

To commemorate its final run, the cars will run on the original debut route from 1964, on the Q line (the then-BMT Brighton Line)

- Departs Brighton Beach on the Q line at 10am, 12:30pm, 3pm and 5:30pm to 96th St, making express stops on the Brighton and Broadway Lines, via the Manhattan Bridge
- Departs 96th St Station on the Q line at 11am, 1:30pm, 4pm and 6:30pm to Brighton Beach, making express stops on the Brighton and Broadway Lines, via the Manhattan Bridge

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