ROLL MODEL
Better subway coming...but you gotta wait
IT’S CLEAN, it’s roomy, it provides helpful information — and, yes, it’s a subway car.
The MTA invited commuters to see for themselves Thursday, when it unveiled two models of the next generation train at the No. 7 line’s enormous 34th St.-Hudson Yards station.
The Daily News scored readers an exclusive sneak peek at the R211 prototypes in September, while the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had them stashed behind a blue construction wall on the station mezzanine.
On Thursday, train buffs and workaday commuters got the chance to check out the two mockups and give MTA staff feedback on what works for them, and what doesn’t.
The models feature open-ended train cars that are common in other cities’ transit systems, dualpronged poles that more hands can hold onto, doors fitted with lights that flash green and red when they open and close, and strip maps that tell riders how many minutes it’ll take to reach their stop. They also have seats that fold up when no one is sitting in them.
The MTA plans to spend $3 billion for up to 1,175 train cars — 535 standard ones to arrive as early as 2020 and up to 640 open-ended cars that’ll get here in 2023 — to run on the letter lines. The new cars will allow the MTA retire its “legacy” cars built in the 1960s and 1970s.
Marie Paspe, a dancer on her way to her studio near the station, said the spacious and bright model would be an upgrade from the dingy old D trains she takes from the Bronx.
“There’s so much more opportunity for people to actually enjoy their ride because most of our commute, most of our life, is on this train. This will make it so much better,” Paspe, 23, said. “I think the MTA gets a really bad rep because the experience is already so discouraged from the sight of trains.”
Niko Goutakolis, 18, a Transit Museum educator, said the train — decked out in the state’s blue and yellow colors — is one New Yorkers can be proud to ride.
“I love how it really screams New York with the blue and yellow,” Goutakolis said.
Quinn Grant, 28, a Harlem resident who stopped to check out the subway mockup while leaving the station, likened it to the futuristiclooking BMW i8.
“The first impression was wow, it’s beautiful, it’s comfortable,” she said. “It looks convenient for the passengers to all have space and room and not get groped.”
Riders can view the models from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
The MTA will be taking feedback at the 34th St.-Hudson Yards station mezzanine through Dec. 9 and via Facebook and Twitter from Sunday through Wednesday.
“Developing a first-in-class subway car is an essential part of modernizing our subway system,” MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said in a statement. “It is important that our subway customers provide their feedback in this process and we hope they will do so after visiting the prototype.”