New York City Subway rolling stock

thumb|250px|right|alt=The "2007 Holiday Shopper's Special", which ran on December Sundays in 2007, consists of a group of R1, R4, R7A, and R9 cars|The "Holiday Shopper's Special", a train of [[R1 (New York City Subway car)|R1, R4, R6, R7A, and R9 subway cars running in special service at the 23rd Street station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line]]

The New York City Subway is a large rapid transit system and has a large fleet of electric multiple unit rolling stock. , the New York City Subway has cars on the roster.

The system maintains two separate fleets of passenger cars: one for the A Division (numbered) routes, the other for the B Division (lettered) routes. All A Division equipment is approximately wide and long. B Division cars, on the other hand, are about wide and either or long. The A Division and B Division trains operate only in their own division; operating in the other division is not allowed. All rolling stock, in both the A and B Divisions, run on the same standard gauge and use the same third-rail geometry and voltage. Most revenue trains consist of between eight and ten cars, although some have as few as two cars and some as many as eleven.

The subway's rolling stock have operated under various companies: the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit (BMT), and Independent Subway System (IND), all of which have since merged into the New York City Transit Authority. Cars purchased by the City of New York since the inception of the IND and for the other divisions beginning in 1948 are identified by the letter "R" followed by a number. Various kinds of cars are also used for maintenance work, including flatcars and vacuum trains.

Current fleet

, the New York City Subway has cars on the roster. All A Division equipment is approximately wide and long. B Division cars are larger, about wide and either or long. The 75-foot cars, the R46s, R68s, and R68As, are not permitted on BMT Eastern Division – the J, L, M, and Z trains – because of sharper curves on those tracks. A typical revenue train consists of 8 or 10 cars. The exceptions are the Franklin Avenue Shuttle, which runs 2-car trains; the Rockaway Park Shuttle, which runs 4- and 5-car trains; the 42nd Street Shuttle, which runs 6-car trains; the , which runs 5-car trains; and the , which runs 11-car trains.

All rolling stock, in both the A and B Divisions, run on the same standard gauge and use the same third-rail geometry and voltage. However, trains operate only in their own division; operating in the other division is not allowed. A Division sections have narrower tunnel segments, tighter curves, and tighter platform clearances than the B Division sections, so B Division trains cannot fit in the A Division tunnels and stations, while A Division trains would have an unacceptably large gap between the platform and train if they were allowed in service on B Division lines. Also, the safety train stop (trip cock) mechanism is not compatible between divisions, being located on opposite sides of the track and train in each division. However, service and maintenance trains are composed of A Division-sized cars, so they can operate with either division's clearances and have safety train stops installed on both sides of the trucks.

New Technology Trains

Newer rolling stock from the past two decades are part of the New Technology Train family, with the goal of introducing modern technology when replacing older rolling stock. They all feature digital signage, bench seating, improved operator controls, and are compatible with communications-based train control signalling. By January 2022, various older B Division cars, such as the entire fleets of R32s, R38s, R40s, R40As, R42s, and NYCT R44s, were retired and replaced by these newer models.

General Overhaul Program

The General Overhaul Program (GOH) was a mid-life overhaul program for neglected subway cars, which involved a thorough rebuilding of the fleet. Since the completion of the GOH program, the new Scheduled Maintenance System (SMS) program has replaced the GOH program by ensuring that trains do not reach a state in which they would need such an overhaul. The car types, which were part of the MTA NYCT GOH program, are the IRT Redbirds (R26, R28, R29, R33, R33S, R36), as well as IND/BMT cars (R30 GE, R32, R38, R40, R40A, R42, R44, and R46). These cars were rebuilt between 1985 and 1993. Some cars in various classes from R10 to R46 were also given lighter overhauls during this period.

"R"-prefixed orders

Cars purchased by the City of New York since the inception of the IND and for the other divisions beginning in 1948 are identified by the letter "R" followed by a number, e.g., R46. This number is the contract number under which the cars were purchased. Cars with nearby contract numbers (e.g., R1 through R9, or R21 through R36, or R143 through R179) may be virtually identical, simply being purchased under different contracts.

The New York City Board of Transportation settled on a system of documentation that is still in place under MTA New York City Transit. This included a prefix letter or letters that indicated the department that the specific documentation, followed by a series of numbers of a length defined by the specific department concerned. For example, the Surface Department used the letter "S", while the Rapid Transit Department used the letter "R". A new R- number is assigned for any vehicle purchase involving a bidding process. Since the 1970s, the system has suffered from "R- inflation" going through only 46 R- numbers in its first 40 years, but over 114 in its subsequent 30. Possible reasons include an increased number of specialized maintenance vehicles that were previously made in house or a lower floor for requiring a formal bidding process to reduce waste and abuse.

Fleet listing

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;" |

! Contract #

! Division

! Year built

! Builder

! Car Length

! Car Width

! class=unsortable | Photograph

! Fleet numbers (Total ordered)

! Number in service

! CBTC

! class=unsortable | Assigned Services

! class=unsortable | Yard assignment

! class=unsortable | Notes

|-bo,

| rowspan="2" | B

| 1971–1973

| St. Louis Car

| rowspan="2" |

| 110px

388–435
436–466 (even numbers only) (64 total)

| align=center |

| (reserve only)

Clifton

Single cars; even numbered cars ("A" cars) have single full-width cabs, odd numbered cars ("B" cars) have blind ends.
New York City Subway car numbers were originally 100–387 and renumbered 5202–5479.
New York City Subway cars retired.
Staten Island Railway cars currently being replaced.

| 1975–1978

| Pullman

| alt=|110x110px

5482–6207 (4-car sets)
6208–6258 (even numbers only) (754 total)

| align=center |

Coney Island
Pitkin

5482–6207 are in A-B-B-A configuration as 4-car sets.
Even-numbered cars have single full-width cabs, and are known as "A" cars
Odd-numbered cars have blind ends, and are known as "B" cars.
6208–6258 are in A-A configuration (even numbers only).
Car numbers were originally 500–1227 and 1228–1278 (even numbers only).
Two cars (941 & 1054) wrecked and scrapped prior to General Overhaul.
Currently being replaced.

| rowspan="2" | A

| 1983–1985

| Kawasaki

| rowspan="2" |

| 110px

| 1301–1625 (325 total)

| align=center |

Livonia

Originally single cars, now 5-car sets.
10 cars (1366–1370, 1435–1437, 1439–1440) retired.
1366–1370 were wrecked in 2000 due to an accident. Car 1369 was scrapped in 2005. Car 1366 and half of car 1370 are at the FDNY Randall's Island training center. Cars 1367 and 1368 were reefed in 2008.
1435–1437 and 1439–1440 were wrecked in 1991 due to a derailment. 1437 and 1439–1440 were scrapped in 2001. Car 1436 was reefed in 2008. 1438 is now part of a 5-car set with 1431–1434.

| 1984–1987

| Bombardier

| 110px

| 1651–2475 (825 total)

| align=center |

240th Street
Livonia
Westchester

Originally single cars, most cars linked in 5 or 6-car sets.
1651–1905, 1961–2475, and select other 1900s have full-width cabs at ends of sets.
1909 was wrecked and scrapped.
2176 was wrecked in 2024 sideswipe and derailment.

| rowspan="2" | B

| 1986–1988

| Westinghouse-Amrail

| rowspan="2" |

| 110px

| 2500–2924 (425 total)

| align=center |

Concourse
Coney Island

2500–2915 originally single cars, now in 4-car sets.
2916–2924 still single cars; used for the Franklin Avenue Shuttle.

| 1988–1989

| Kawasaki

| 110px

| 5001–5200 (200 total)

| align=center |

Coney Island

Originally single cars, now in 4-car sets.

! R142

| rowspan="2" | A

| 1999–2003

| Bombardier

| rowspan="2" |

| 110px

| 1101–1250, 6301–7180 (1,030 total)

| align=center | 1,025

| rowspan="2"