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If you’ve ridden the Staten Island Railway lately and felt like something was different—shinier, smoother, less “1970s basement paneling”—you’re not imagining things. For the first time in half a century, the entire fleet is brand new. Every train rolling out of St. George is now an R211S, the MTA’s gleaming new model that finally retires the creaky R44s that have been clattering along since 1973.
The milestone was marked on Friday when NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow declared the last of the new trainsets in service, officially completing Staten Island’s long-overdue glow-up. “It wasn’t all-new cars two, three years ago. We had the R44 cars, which in their own right were great cars, but they were 50 years old,” Crichlow said. (That’s almost as long as the Verrazzano’s been charging tolls, for reference.)
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The new R211S cars come tricked out with features that actually belong in this century: built-in security cameras, digital route displays, automated announcements that don’t sound like they’re phoning it in from the bottom of the harbor and doors that are eight inches wider to speed up boarding. Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella called the upgrade “a welcome development for safety, accessibility, and comfort.” It also means you might actually get on and off the train without a rugby scrum.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber couldn’t resist a little borough pride either: “Staten Island is the first borough to get a full fleet of R211S train cars.” Queens and Brooklyn, don’t be jealous.
For riders, the practical benefits are obvious. The new cars can travel more than double the distance between mechanical breakdowns compared to the old R44s, meaning fewer service snarls. Add in brighter lighting, extra accessible seating and better signage, and daily commutes suddenly feel less like a punishment.
Local leaders—from State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton to Assembly Member Charles Fall—praised the update as more than a cosmetic change. “Having reliable and modern service is not just about convenience,” Fall said. “It is about connecting communities, supporting working families and ensuring Staten Islanders receive the same quality of service as the rest of New York City.”
It took 50 years, but Staten Islanders are finally riding trains that reflect the 2020s, not the Nixon era. Next stop: Let’s just hope it doesn’t take another half-century for the next upgrade.