R143 (New York City Subway Car) - History

History

Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc. was awarded a $190 million contract for 100 new B Division cars in late December 1998, with an option for as many as 112 more. The new design was based on the A Division's R142A, which Kawasaki also built, and incorporated many features from the R110B prototype. Delivery began in late 2001, and a 30-day test with one train of eight cars began on December 4, 2001. According to Kawasaki, the test was "extremely successful".

R143s began running on the BMT Canarsie Line (L train) on February 12, 2002, and all 212 cars were delivered to the subway by March 2003. In addition to the L, where the R143s displaced the R40/R40Ms and most of the R42s, they also displaced the R42s on the M weekend shuttle service on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line. The R143s on that service were replaced by R160As in February 2008. One Person Train Operation was tested on the L during mid-2005.

Eight R143s numbered 8205-8212 were retrofitted with experimental Siemens traction motors to test the traction motors that would be found in some of the R160B cars. These cars were eventually refitted with the Bombardier traction motors found in all other R143s.

The 212 cars delivered were expected to provide enough service for years, but the fast growth of Williamsburg, Brooklyn overloaded the L by mid-2006.

On June 21, 2006, an eight-car R143 train overshot the bumper at the end of the tracks in the Canarsie Yard after the operator suffered a seizure. Lead car #8277 suffered significant damage and has been stripped of damaged parts for repair. It is currently at the Kawasaki plant in Yonkers while the rest of the set (8278-8280) is at the 207th Street Yard. It is not known if these cars will return to service.