$600M Subway Fleet Yanked After Train Breaks Apart In Chamber St

TRIBECA, NY – An A train split in two early Wednesday as carriages became disconnected traveling through the Chamber Street station, the MTA said.

An entire $600 million fleet of new R179 trains were pulled out of service as an investigtion was launched into why it broke apart.

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It's the same fleet that was sidelined in January after a set of doors on a moving C train opened on Christmas Eve — an incident that repeated about 10 days later.

That train was deemed one of about 300 "lemons" that the MTA bought from manufacturer Bombardier, according Comptroller Scott Stringer.

“Early today, just after 1 a.m. a northbound A train became separated between the sixth and seventh cars of the ten-car train as it entered Chambers Street Station," Interim President of NYC Transit Sarah Feinberg said.

"Ten passengers were safely evacuated with no reported injuries to customers or employees.

“At this time, we believe this to be an isolated incident, however, I am launching a full investigation, and out of an abundance of caution, the entire R179 fleet is being pulled from service until further notice. We have redeployed additional spare cars and minimal impacts to service are anticipated.

“This marks the latest unacceptable issue with one of Bombardier’s R179 cars. Customer and employee safety is New York City Transit’s North Star. We will not compromise one inch on safety. We will not return the fleet to service without certainty and validation that all cars are fit for passenger service – period.”

Stringer reported in December that the MTA's 318 new Bombardier cars arrived three years late and had cost the city $35 million in repairs and $300 million annually in lost labor during subway delays.

According to his audit, New York City had received only 298 cars by December 2019 and 20 were not in service because of problems with brakes, heating, ventilation and doors.

The 298 R179s represent about 4.5 percent of the MTA's 6716 cars, according to the MTA.