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Just days after the first section of Staten Island's newest park was unveiled, officials announced that the often overlooked borough is getting its first new subway cars since Richard Nixon was president (that is: half-a-century ago).
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority revealed that five current Staten Island Railway cars that had been in use since 1973 will be phased out and replaced with five new R-211 cars, which are certainly a big upgrade from the current state of affairs.
“For the first time in 50 years, brand new, faster, cleaner and safer trains are coming to Staten Island,” said New York City Transit President Richard Davey in an official statement. “These new, top-of-the-line R211 cars feature security cameras and digital displays, along with wider doorways that will help speed up boarding times and run more reliable service.”
Perhaps even more excitingly, the agency declared its plans to replace the system's entire fleet (that's a total of 75 cars!) by the end of 2024.
Although the MTA unveiled the replacements earlier this week, passengers will only get to start actually riding them during a 30-day trial period that will kick off in March of 2024.
The news comes less than a year after the R211 subway cars debuted in the first place. The futuristic modes of transportation were, at the time, the first novel ones in five years to be released and cost the MTA an estimated $3.2 billion.
It's clearly time for Staten Island to enjoy a transit revamp as well.