R68 (New York City Subway car)

Infobox Train
background =
name = R68 (New York City Subway car)

---

imagesize = 250px
caption = An R68 on the Franklin Avenue Shuttle
interior

---

interiorcaption = Interior of an R68 car.
Manufacturer = Westinghouse Amrail Company, ANF Industrie (all cars)
Jeumont Schneider (2500-2724), Alsthom (2725-2924)
Factory = France
Family =
Built =
Refurbishment =
Replaced =
Formation = Stainless steel with fiberglass end bonnets
Designation = 2500-2924
Operator = New York City Subway
Depots = Concourse Yard, Coney Island Yard
LinesServed = NYCS|B, NYCS|D, NYCS|N, NYCS|Q, NYCS|W, Franklin Avenue Shuttle
yearconstruction = 1986-1987
yearservice =
yearscrapped =
numberconstruction =
numberbuilt = 425
numberservice = 425
numberscrapped =
CarBody = stainless steel with carbon end bonnet
CarLength = convert|75|ft|1|abbr=on
CarWidth = convert|10|ft|abbr=on
CarHeight = convert|12.08|ft|1|abbr=on
floorheight =
platformheight =
entrylevelorstep =
art-sections =
doors = 8
MaxSpeed = convert|65|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on
Weight = convert|92720|lb|kg|0|abbr=on
Capacity = 70 (seated)
Power-supply = Westinghouse E-Cam Propulsion (AdTranz E-Cam Propulsion) with Westinghouse 1447J motors (115 hp per wheel)
Gauge = RailGauge|ussg standard gauge
Brakes = New York Air Braking (NYAB) GSX23 "SMEE" braking system, WABCO Air Braking VauleThe R68 is a type of New York City Subway car. The 425-car contract was a joint venture of Westinghouse AM-Rail Company, ANF Industrie of Paris, and other companies. The cars were built in France from 1986 to 1988 and shipped to New York Harbor. They replaced many R10s, and all remaining R16s.

The R68 was the third R-class contract to be built with 75-foot (23 m) cars, which have more room for sitting and standing passengers per car than the convert|60|ft|m|sing=on cars that were used previously. However, because convert|75|ft|m|sing=on cars take longer to load and unload, and because convert|75|ft|m|sing=on cars cannot fit in the entire B division, more recent orders have returned to convert|60|ft|m|sing=on cars.

The R68's manufacture suffered from significant system integration problems. Inadequate communication and coordination between the carbody builder (ANF Industrie) and the chassis assembler (Westinghouse) led to operational failures; the R68 became known as a lemon. However, extensive work performed by the New York City Transit Authority ultimately provided solutions to the car's many problems, and today the R68 has among the highest Mean Distance Between Failure (MDBF) in the fleet. The R68's first entry to revenue service was on June 20, 1986 on the NYCS service|D service; the first cars were numbered 2500-2507. There were two contracts to supply the R68. The primary order was: 2500-2724, and the R68-1 option order was 2725-2924. The fleet today primarily runs on the NYCS service|B, NYCS service|D, NYCS service|Q, Franklin Avenue Shuttle, and NYCS service|W with several sets on the NYCS service|N. R68s are based out of the Concourse Yard in the Bronx and the Coney Island Complex in Brooklyn.

References

* Sansone, Gene. "Evolution of New York City subways: An illustrated history of New York City's transit cars, 1867-1997". New York Transit Museum Press,New York, 1997 ISBN 978-0963749284

External links

* [http://www.nycsubway.org/cars/r68.html nycsubway.org - R68 page information]