Brand New Subway Cars With Security Cameras and Open Gangways Hit the Rails

By Yehudit Garmaise

Making their starring debut on Thursday on the C line were 1,000 brand new subway cars that each provide two security cameras, working digital screens, wider doors, and “open gangways” that allow passengers to safely walk among cars.

The cameras allow “the police to actually see what's going on and respond more quickly,” said Governor Hochul, who rode in one of the new R211T models yesterday.

The cameras also provide more security and comfort to passengers, who see that “when something is going on that makes them uncomfortable, someone is aware of it,” the governor added. 

The city’s subway system now features 14,000 cameras, 2,400 of which are installed on subway cars.

Governor Hochul’s push to step up camera surveillance in the subway system took place on April 12, 2022, when 29 passengers were shot and ten were injured on a northbound N train in between the 59th St. and 36th Street stations, near Sunset Park.

Thankfully, no one died, but at the time, zero subway cars had cameras to help police with surveillance that could help to identify the perpetrator.

The NYPD’s search was further delayed when some of the cameras in subway stations, such as the one in Sunset Park, were not functioning.

“We said, ‘That’s not acceptable,’” said the governor, who used federal funds to pay for the subway’s improvements. “By the end of this year, we're going to have nearly 30,000 cameras on all new trains and on our existing trains.”

When a Boro Parker was asked whether the additional security cameras would make him more likely to return to using the subway more often, he said, “The additional security cameras will bring some measure of calm to subway riders.”

But would he soon return to riding the rails on a regular basis?

“Doubt it,” he said honestly.

For those who do ride the subway, the “open gangways” “close the dangerous gap” that young people and others have fallen through and been harmed. The open gangway cars also provide more accessibility to passengers in wheelchairs and with strollers.

While Hochul said passengers might enjoy getting up and changing cars to “talk to interesting-looking passengers,” attorney Linda Dakin-Grimm said, “The real experience on the subway is that now passengers will be able to get away fast and easily when someone on the train seems weird or menacing.”

Other accessibility improvements include additional seating, larger cars and subway doors that are eight inches wider to provide more space to make entering, riding, and exiting the train easier and quickly for all passengers, but especially for those in wheelchairs or pushing strollers.

The new R211T subway car models are the first to hit the rails in NYC in 25 years. The oldest subway cars in use, the R46, is nearly 50 years old.

“The MTA needs to acquire thousands of cars,” said MTA CEO Janno Lieber, who added that launching the 1,000 R211T models “will teach us whether the open gangway design works for New Yorkers.”