New Technology Train

New Technology Train (NTT) is the collective term for the modern passenger fleet of the New York City Subway entering service since the turn of the 21st Century. This includes the current R142, R142A, R143, R160, and R188 models, the R179 model currently under construction, and the planned R211 model. Two prototypes, the R110A and R110B, were used to test the features that would be found on all NTT trains today. Sometimes referred to as New Millennium Trains, they are known for improvements in technology, energy efficiency, reliability, and comfort along with advanced passenger information systems. Much of the engineering and construction efforts for the fleet have been done by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Bombardier Transportation. Alstom also helped to build some of the trains, specifically the R160A.

List of New Technology Trains
This is a list of all NTT trains operated by the New York City Subway, as well as future trains and retired trains.

Current

 * R142 – Built by Bombardier Transportation. The first production model of NTT trains ever built. Built for the A Division. Entered service on July 10, 2000. The R142s are similar to the R142As and the R188s.
 * R142A – Built by the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company. The second model of NTT trains. Used by the A Division. Entered service on July 10, 2000, the same day the R142s entered service. 380 cars converted into R188s. 220 cars remain unconverted. The R142As are similar to the R142s and nearly identical to the R188s.
 * R143 – Built by Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc. The third model of NTTs, and the first model of NTTs for the B Division. Used mainly by the L for CBTC, but occasionally may appear on other services. Entered service on February 12, 2002. Equipped with CBTC, the first subway car to be equipped with this feature. The R143s are similar to the R160s and future R179s.
 * R160 – Built by Alstom and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Used by the B Division. The fourth model of NTT trains. There are two subtypes since these cars were built by two different manufacturers. R160As were built by Alstom, while R160Bs were built by Kawasaki. Entered service between 2006 and 2010. Sixty-four R160As have CBTC for the L. The R160s are similar to the R143s and future R179s.
 * R188 – Built by the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company. The fifth model of NTT trains. Used exclusively on the 7 route of the A Division, since it uses eleven-car trains. CBTC equipped. Consists of converted R142A cars and of identical new cars. Entered service on December 15, 2013. The R188s are similar to the R142s in addition to being nearly identical to the R142As.

Future

 * R179 – Now being built by Bombardier Transportation. To be used by the B Division. The first car of the train, 3014, arrived at 207th Street Yard on September 6, 2016. The rest of the test train, 3010-3019, will arrive in the middle of September 2016. All will be delivered by 2018. The R179s will be similar to the R160s and R143s.
 * R211 – Still being planned. Manufacturer is to be announced when the contract is awarded sometime in 2017. Will be used by the B Division, as well as the Staten Island Railway. Ten cars are open-gangway experimental prototype cars. Will possibly also have Wi-Fi, security cameras, digital video screens and electronic charging stations. The design of the R211 will be completely different compared to the design of rest of the NTT trains.

Former

 * R110A – Contract number was R130. Built by the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company and used mainly on the 2 route. Was a prototype train for the A Division that operated from 1993 to 1999. Used to test out new technology features that would be incorporated into the R142 car order. Was not intended for long-term production use. All B-cars of the set were converted into pump cars between 2013 and 2014. Other cars stored at 207th Street Yard, stripped of parts, except for one car (#8010), which remains in original condition.
 * R110B – Contract number was R131. Built by Bombardier Transportation and used mainly on the A route. Was a prototype train for the B Division that operated from 1993 to 2000. Designed to test various new technology features that would eventually be incorporated into the R143 car order and was also not intended for long-term production use. Five cars were sent away, while four cars remain at 207th Street Yard.

History
The New Technology program emerged from modernization efforts by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) beginning in 1982, when the subway "was on the verge of collapse". The New Technology program officially began in 1988, the first effort at a technologically-advanced subway car since the R44 in the early 1970s. In 1989, the MTA awarded contracts for two prototype test trains: the R110A (contract R130) for the A Division built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and the R110B (contract R131) for the B Division built by Bombardier Transportation. The two New Technology test trains (NTTTs) began service in June 1993, testing features that would be implemented on future mass-production orders. Both trains were taken out of service by 2000, due to multiple issues with the trains.

In 1997, the first mass order of New Technology trains was placed for the R142 and R142A trains of the A Division (awarded to Bombardier and Kawasaki respecitvely), in order to replace the final 1,410 Redbird cars in operation. In 1998, a smaller contract of 212 cars, consisting of 100 in the base order and 112 in the optional order, was awarded to Kawasaki Heavy Industries, to build the R143 model for the B Division's BMT Eastern Division (primarily the BMT Canarsie Line's L train). The first R142s and R142As entered service beginning in July 2000. The R143s began operation in February 2002.

In July 2002, the MTA awarded contracts to Kawasaki and Alstom Transportation for the R160 order for the B Division, with options for up to 1,700 cars to replace many 1960s- and 1970s-era cars. The first R160 train, built by Kawasaki under the contract R160B, began service on August 17, 2006, on the . The initial 660-car base order was filled by October 2008, with a total of 1,662 cars delivered by May 6, 2010.

On May 5, 2010, Kawasaki was awarded the contract for the R188 A Division order, to provide 46 CBTC-ready 11-car trains for the IRT Flushing Line. Unlike the other orders, the R188 constructed only 126 new subway cars, with the remaining 380 cars consisting of converted R142As.

On June 4, 2012, Bombardier was awarded the R179 contract for 300 new B Division cars, to replace the 50 R42s on the BMT Jamaica Line. In December of 2012, preliminary designs began on the R211 B Division contract, which entails 940 cars in order to expand the system fleet, and to replace the R46 fleet and the R44 fleet of the Staten Island Railway; both models were built in the 1970s. Both the R179 and R211 orders are planned to replace the 222 remaining R32 cars, which were built in the 1960s and have run well past their expected lives, by the year 2022. The first R188s entered service on November 9, 2013. The R179 order fell significantly behind schedule, with the first test train expected in June 2016, while the R211 contract is expected to be awarded in 2017.

Design and features
The NTT models utilize a common car design; stainless-steel car bodies with a black front fascia on the "A" (cab) cars, open lexan-glass non-cab ends, and electronic outer route signs, as opposed to the rollsigns used by previous models. Improvements to the conductors' interface include the addition of speedometers as well as electronic consoles that monitor mechanical problems that may occur on the train. The cars feature a white fiberglass interior with blue-gray plastic bench seats both to combat vandalism, along with bright fluorescent lighting and LED interior passenger information signs. The bench-style seats, designed with lumbar supports, also replaced the unpopular bucket-style seats used on rolling stock built in the 1970s and '80s, which were both uncomfortable for passengers and hard to clean. The trains utilize an airbag suspension (replacing conventional springs) for a more comfortable ride, and employ regenerative braking which converts the energy from brake application into electricity that is fed back into the third rail. All NTT trains are capable of being equipped with communications-based train control (CBTC) technology, which is installed in the "A" cars behind the motorman's cab. Only the R143s and R188s, as well as sixty-four R160s, have been upgraded for automated service, on the and  routes.

Recorded announcements
The NTTs are the first rolling stock in the system to utilize pre-recorded train announcements, as opposed to live conductor announcements. The recorded announcements are used for station information, closing doors, and other general messages. Station announcements rely on a wheel-rotation counter to make accurate stop announcements. The recordings began in the late 1990s and feature Bloomberg Radio on-air speakers, who volunteered at the request of their employer Michael Bloomberg, who would later become mayor of New York City. Voices include Diane Thompson (for the 1, 2, and 3 trains), Melissa Kleiner (original voice of the 4 and 5 trains outside of Manhattan), Jessica Ettinger Gottesman (current voice for the 4, 5, and 6 trains), Annie Bergen (for the 7 train and 42nd Street Shuttle), Catherine Cowdery (for the B, D, E, G, J, L, M, N, Q, R, and Z trains), Kathleen Campion (for the A, C, and F trains, as well as the Franklin Avenue Shuttle and Rockaway Park Shuttle), and Charlie Pellett (for other announcements).

Female voices are typically used for station, route, and transfer/connection announcements. Pellett's recordings are used for most of the remaining announcements, most notably "Stand clear of the closing doors, please" prior to train doors closing, but also for safety announcements such as "Please be careful of the gap between the platform and the train" prior to entering a station with curved platforms, and "If you see something, say something." With regards to why certain messages are voiced by males and others by females, MTA spokesperson Gene Sansone said in 2006, "Most of the orders are given by a male voice, while informational messages come from females. Even though this happened by accident, it is a lucky thing because a lot of psychologists agree that people are more receptive to orders from men and information from women." Manual announcements can still be made over the public address system by train operators and conductors, and a "ding" will be heard before the conductor or operator speaks, unlike the recorded announcements.

Electronic strip maps
The R142s, R142As, R143s, and R188s feature electronic "strip maps." These maps utilize a total of 63 amber LED lights, numbered 001–063, to display stops, with a plastic card on top showing the route, stations, and transfers. A light will flash when a stop is being approached, and while idle at that stop. Lights turned off indicate a stop already reached, or a part of the route not serviced on that particular trip. LED arrows at either end of the map indicate the direction of service. Electronic strip maps were first tested on the R110A and R110B in the 1990s. While an upgrade from static route maps, most of the strip maps can only facilitate one service and must be turned off when a train is used on another route; this problem is frequently observed on the 2 and 5 trains, which both use R142 cars from the East 180th Street and 239th Street Yards and have large amounts of route overlap on the IRT White Plains Road, Eastern Parkway, and Nostrand Avenue lines. To solve this problem, the MTA began replacing the individual strip maps for the 2 and 5 routes in 2016, with combined strip maps showing both services.

FIND displays
The R160s, as will the future R179s and R211s, employ an advanced alternative to strip maps, called the "Flexible Information and Notice Display," or "FIND." This includes an LCD screen displaying the route, route information, and advertisements, as well as a dynamic red, yellow, and green LED strip map that displays the next ten stations, plus five consecutive "further stops" to riders. There are three of these in every car. The display updates the stations at every stop, also giving the number of stops to each station listed. This allows for instant route or line changes with the correct information, which includes, but is not limited to, omitting certain stops (displayed as "Will not stop" in red).