MTA’s open gangway subway car prototypes uncovered at Hudson Yards

The city is still years away from rolling out its new fleet of open gangway subway cars, but they’re closer to the tracks than anyone imagined. A Daily News journalist discovered that two prototypes of the R211 cars are stashed behind a flimsy partition wall at the West 34th Street—Hudson Yards 7 train stop, and posted a few photos on Twitter to prove it.

“This prototype has Cuomo’s design aesthetic all over it,” writes the Daily News’s Dan Rivoli, and Rivoli isn’t wrong: It’s no plush classic car, but the new subway trains will have blue and yellow stripes, and bear the New York state seal. That blue and yellow scheme carries into the car, where yellow floor mats will direct people where to stand (we’ll see how that goes). Seats and poles will also be yellow.

The new trains will also include digital display screens that, among other things, will show the layout of stations. (Good job, MTA.)

An MTA spokesperson told the Daily News that the prototypes will be available for the public to check out eventually, but not just yet.

• New subway train prototype up but hidden at Hudson Yards station [NYDN]
• MTA will replace 300 subway cars before rolling out open-gangway design [Curbed]
• MTA's Open Gangway Subway Car Might Look Like This [Curbed]
• All MTA coverage [Curbed]