yeayo

R179 will not be cancelled. Federal funds are allocated for the project. MTA would have to return the money to the FTA. Makes no sense when production cars in process at this point.

There is no way the production cars will be operating by the time the second ave extension opens (if it opens at the end of the year). The prototype consist will need to complete qual testing and burn in, which usually takes up to a year or more, before production cars can even enter service. From what I know, the 179's haven't been delivered yet. Therefore, the earliest I can see production cars running, unless MTA tries to accelerate the testing period for the prototype cars, is sometime next summer or fall.

I am not sure if the Chinese will be qualified in time for the RFP. The RFP needs to be released first. Then, it is usually 8-9 months for the selection process. I would guesstimate before the end of next year the car builder will selected.

I watched some of yesterday's board meeting and it was noted that the Chinese are in the process of qualifying themselves as a carbuilder for MTA. I don't believe they will be qualified in time for the R211 order but they will provide serious competition to Bombardier, Alstom, and Kawasaki on future procurement's especially if their cars perform well on other contracts they have won in US so far (Boston, Chicago, and potentially LA).

Again, I don't understand why it is a huge oversight. NYCT doesn't run mixed consists.

I am certain if the R143's and R160's were ran in a mixed consist the FINDS system wouldn't work. Different communication networks and different signals. Again, I am not electrical guy but that's just from my experience working on other projects.

Not sure what you are asking. If an authority wants backwards compatibility, it needs to be written in the tech spec. So far, NYCT hasn't had that requirement in any of their contracts. It would make sense if NYCT ran mixed consists in revenue service but from my understanding, they keep the fleets separated.

It is not an oversight. Backwards compatibility limits what new technology can be put on train due to interface concerns. NYCT wants to move forward with every car order not backwards. I am certain the mechanical couplers are compatible between each other in the event a rescue is needed.

Stainless steel's appearance changes depending on lighting. It can look clean in low lighting but on a bright day you can see all the smudges and dirt on it.

Of course they are going to bid on it. It's a massive car order. However, I think the Chinese may bid as well which will put both Bombardier and Kawasaki at disadvantage price wise.

Yea, you're right 142's used Alstom propulsion.

? Bombardier propulsion is already on the R142 (Bombardier), R142a (Kawasaki), R143 (Kawasaki), and R188 (Kawasaki).

My involvement ended about 6 months ago. At that time I left, the design was already finalized and procurement and inspections were already going through. I doubt anything has changed since then.

All I can say is I used to work very closely on R188.

The propulsion is going to the be essentially the same for compatibility purposes. Some subcomponents in the actual equipment for the new cars will be different because of obsolescence and high failure rates.