New train cars’ new problem

They’re shiny and clean and all of them were supposed to be on the subway two years ago.

But the city’s newest subway cars face yet another problem with their manufacture — and an official of the transit workers union calls them “lemons.”

A handful of the new R179 cars, which run on the J/Z and A/C lines, have shoddy welds on their collision pillars, a part of the cars’ structure meant to protect train operators in crashes, NYC Transit President Andy Byford said.

The problem isn’t severe enough to require the cars to be pulled from service, he said.

Bombardier, the Canadabased company that is building the cars at a factory in upstate Plattsburgh, reported the problem with the cars. The $600 million, 300-car delivery was supposed to be completed by early 2017.

The R179s are supposed to replace the R32 subway cars, which were first delivered during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency.

The bad welds are the latest problem the MTA has had with Bombardier’s delivery of the R179s. The MTA pulled dozens of the new cars from service in January because of mechanical problems.

“These things are lemons,” said Transport Workers Union Local 100 head of trains Eric Loegel. “We’ve known about a number of mechanical problems with them for a while.”

NYC Transit employees complain the windows in the cars’ cabs uncomfortably press into their chests when they lean outside as trains enter or leave stations. They also say the space between the ends of the cars is so small, larger crew members can’t squeeze through them when they are required to do so. MTA spokesman Shams Tarek said those issues are being addressed.