@John L: Damn, America can't even build subway trains? We have to get them from Brazil?

@OSN!:Brazil? Didn't most subway cars use to come out of Canada?Why the F aren't these things being manufactured in America? Do we make ANYTHING in the country anymore other than dubious financial instruments? We are truly in a steep and steady decline.

And oddly enough, we still have massive immigration from these very places where a lot of our manufacturing base has moved. Sweet deal; we'll give you our manufacturing base and other parts of our economy while you ship us your poor, uneducated folks. What a deal.

Yes, because people like you keep voting for the same political parties that are in the pocket/pay of corporate America.

Maybe if you'd voted for candidates like Raph Nader during the last two elections (2004 and 2008) America might be on its way to building subway trainsets again.

Maybe if you all would listen to people like Michael Moore when he called for the Obama administration to force GM and Chrysler to start building bullet trainsets, LRT's and HRT's (Heavy Rail Trains, aka subways), and not be mocking him when he says it, we'd be seeing Americans hard at work building the above-mentioned vehicles.

But no, you all vote for the same mother fuckers all of the fucking time, every four fucking years, expecting things to be fixed, except that these guys and gals in the pockets of Big Finance and Big Industry and Big Defense that you elect can't fix them. That's why NYCTA subway trainsets (and those of other transit systems in other American cities) have to be imported from Brazil, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada (although GM and Chrysler still have plants where you are-just barely!) That's why the only thing that rolls off of the factory floor is a useless F-22 or F-35; a Abrams M-1 MBT, and all sorts of death-dealing shit. Time to stop focusing on what brown-skinned person's doing to America, and onto what corporations are doing to America, instead.

@Andrew Garcia:Needless to say, it's a complex problem.

Bullshit, it is! Get those death-dealing firms that are part of America's military-industrial complex to re-tool, and you'll see subway trainsets made in America roll through America's cities once again. Nothing hard or complex about it at all.

I need to agree somewhat with OSN! Do we make anything here? The answer is no. Somehow we need to be more competitive. On the other side of the argument, we cannot allow MTA to buy trains at double the cost because they're made in the USA either. I remember after Hurricane Katrina and Rita I couldn't find a certified welder for a year because they were all down in NOLa. repairing all of the damage. This tells me we have a deficit of skilled labor as well. Needless to say, it's a complex problem.

Brazil? Didn't most subway cars use to come out of Canada?Why the F aren't these things being manufactured in America? Do we make ANYTHING in the country anymore other than dubious financial instruments? We are truly in a steep and steady decline.

And oddly enough, we still have massive immigration from these very places where a lot of our manufacturing base has moved. Sweet deal; we'll give you our manufacturing base and other parts of our economy while you ship us your poor, uneducated folks. What a deal.

This is all very nice, but I'm betting they already got 2 things wrong. First, the grabrails will probably be too high. I'm 5'4'' and my wife is only 5' tall.

This happens because the riding public doesn't have any input.

Second the electronic signs probably will be screwed up like they are on the Japanese cars.

Let's hope I'm wrong on both counts.

Damn, America can't even build subway trains? We have to get them from Brazil?

Uh-oh...subway doors that automatically re-open when blocked? Trains will never leave the station without the heavy hand of a conductor to jam the doors shut.

Of course, they're not really subway cars until they've been broken in with some hobo urine.

dang, was hoping that these new r160s are virtually hobo-proof.

Fewer automatic, robotic, mind-control announcements hopefully? *crosses fingers*

D line hopefully?

*crosses fingers*

I hope to hell that it's the D, but it's probably going to be for the A or C. Every time I take either of those lines the cars feel like they'll fly apart. The E used to be the same and they replaced those with the brand spankin' new cars.

Hopefully the B/D/F are next in line for an upgrade.

The R-44s (A train) are the priority for replacement, even over the C train cars (R-32s). R-32s are stainless steel construction. They sound horrible, but are sturdy platforms. They really need to fix the ACs (haha) in them, though. I die a little bit inside whenever I take them under the river and through downtown Brooklyn. Maybe it's a brownout effect on them, I dunno. I swear the AC is much better uptown and midtown, but then dims out the closer it gets to downtown.

I hope it's the A too (since I ride it every day)

haven't noticed it being that shaky, then again I used to ride the R train.

I'm afraid not. The R44s on the A are being retired, but are being replaced with hand-me-down equipment from the F, the R46s. They look similar to the R44s, with a few differences here and there.

A new series of cars, the R179 should begin to arrive within two years. Although the plan was to run those cars on the A and C, I wouldn't be surprised if we weren't shafted again.

TL;DR: The A and C will get new cars when there's a blizzard in Hell.