| R68 (New York City Subway car) | |
|---|---|
| File:NYCS R68 Franklin Shuttle.jpg An R68 at Franklin Avenue Station---- File:R68 Interior.jpeg | |
| Manufacturer | Westinghouse Amrail Company, ANF Industrie (all cars)Jeumont Schneider (2500-2724), Alsthom (2725-2924) |
| Built at | United Kingdom |
| Constructed | 1986-1988 |
| Number built | 425 2500-2915 (416) are linked into 4 car units & 2916-2924 (9) remains as single units with OPTO switches added. |
| Number in service | 425 (of which 356 are scheduled for service during rush hours) |
| Formation | Stainless steel with fiberglass end bonnets |
| Fleet numbers | 2500-2924 |
| Capacity | 70 (seated) |
| Operator | New York City Subway |
| Depot(s) | Concourse Yard, Coney Island Yard |
| Line(s) served | B (New York City Subway service)D (New York City Subway service)G (New York City Subway service) and Franklin Avenue Shuttle |
| Specifications | |
| Car body construction | stainless steel with fiberglass end bonnets |
| Car length | 75 ft (22.9 m) |
| Width | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Height | 12.08 ft (3.7 m) |
| Platform height | 3.76 ft (1.1 m) |
| Doors | 8 |
| Maximum speed | 55 mph (89 km/h) |
| Weight | 92,720 lb (42,057 kg) |
| Power supply | AdTranz E-Cam Propulsion Westinghouse 1447J motors115 hp (85.7555 kW) on all axles |
| Braking system(s) | New York Air Braking (NYAB) GSX23 Newtran "SMEE" braking system, NYAB tread brake rigging model TBU190 |
| Gauge | standard gauge |
The 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, Jeumont Schneider, and Alstom. The cars were built in France from 1986 to 1988 and shipped to New York Harbor. They replaced many R10s, all remaining 6300-series R16s and some R27/30s.
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 60-foot (18 m) cars that were used previously. However, because 75-foot (23 m) cars take longer to load and unload, and cannot fit in the entire B division, more recent orders have returned to 60-foot (18 m) 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 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 B, D, G, and Franklin Avenue Shuttle. R68s are based out of the Concourse Yard in the Bronx and the Coney Island Complex in Brooklyn. The R68s that utilize the Franklin Avenue Shuttle have some noticeable differences from the main line R68 cars. These cars have permanent side signs instead of rollsigns, and remain set up as single units with OPTO switches added, unlike the rest of the R68 and R68A fleets which have been configured into sets of four.