Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Our First Look At The MTA's Interconnected "Human Centipede" Subway Trains
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 25, 2016
Modified Jan 25, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
via MTA
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 25, 2016
Modified Jan 25, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
If you spent this morning's post-blizzard subway commute crammed between an AM New York and an insufferably puffy jacket that smelled vaguely of a campfire, this new rendering of the MTA's open-gangway subway car prototypes might offer some hope.
Not too much hope, though: the MTA’s 2015-2019 capital plan only calls for purchasing ten of the open-gangway cars [PDF], and 940 with the usual design.
As Second Avenue Sagas notes, the MTA could potentially retrofit the others with the open plan, which increases capacity on the train by 8 to 10%, or amend the order to include more of them—those options might come up during the MTA’s Capital Program Oversight Committee meeting today.
Other cities utilize open gangways, like Berlin, Hong Kong, and Montreal, but the blog’s MTA sources say “there is a mix of agency fears at doing something viewed by New Yorkers as ‘different’ even if it exists elsewhere and some manageable engineering concerns about these types of cars’ ability to handle tight curves.”
Hong Kong's MTR (courtesy Jen Chung)
Some of the new cars will be outfitted with digital video screens, charging stations, and wireless internet, which promise to keep you happy and distracted from the underlying infrastructure issues that will continue to plague the MTA until our public officials obtain the political courage to address them.
On the other hand, the Javits Center is going to be a kick-ass venue for all your convention and conclave needs.
The MTA began designing these new trains in 2012 (check out the "6/4/13" date on these renderings), will award the contracts in early 2017, and will get these machines on the tracks in the early 2020s. All of the new trains are expected to be in service until the 2060s, so your great-grandkids are going to love riding the new Second Avenue Subway (the portions that are finished, anyway).
Tagged
MTA
open gangway
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch planned to visit the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 2, 2026 at 4:23 p.m. ET
DOC negligence factored in death at Rikers' Bellevue hospital outpost, jail officials say
The oversight board’s report documents a deadly pattern of neglect at a facility meant to keep inmates safe.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
News
DOC negligence factored in death at Rikers' Bellevue hospital outpost, jail officials say
The oversight board’s report documents a deadly pattern of neglect at a facility meant to keep inmates safe.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Conductor on NYC subway that dragged man to death may have skipped safety check, source says
By
Stephen Nessen
NYPD still searching for man who threw burning substance on victim in East Harlem
By
Ryan Kost
Intoxication not a 'license' to rape: Hochul pushes to tighten law amid Cornell scandal
By
Walter Wuthmann
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .