R44 (New York City Subway car)

Common card · No. 201213

The R44 is a New York City Subway car model built by the St. Louis Car Company from 1971 to 1973 for the B Division and the Staten Island Railway (SIR). The cars replaced many R1–9 series cars, and all remaining 1925 Standard Steel built SIRTOA ME-1 trains, providing Staten Island with a new fleet of railcars. The R44 fleet initially consisted of 352 cars; the remaining ones operate on the Staten Island Railway. The first R44 cars entered service on the subway on April 19, 1972, and on the Staten Island Railway on February 28, 1973. Various modifications were made over the years to the R44 fleet. The R44s set the world speed record for a subway car in 1972, reaching a top speed of 87.75 mph (141.22 km/h). In the early 1990s, the R44 cars were rebuilt by Morrison–Knudsen and New York City Transit Authority. Though New York City Subway-operated R44s were replaced by the R160 between December 18, 2009 and September 16, 2010, due to structural integrity issues, the Staten Island Railway fleet...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Railfan458, CC BY 4.0