#2381
R4 (New York City Subway car)
🇺🇸 United States ·built by American Car and Foundry Company· from 1932· class of New York City Subway car
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. R4 subway car at Seashore Trolley Museum, June 2007: Rene Schwietzke from Jena, Germany· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The R4 was a New York City Subway car model built from 1932 to 1933 by the American Car and Foundry Company in Berwick, Pennsylvania. These subway cars were purchased for the IND Division. A total of 500 R4s were built, numbered 400–899, and arranged as single units.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 94 years ago, in 1932.
- Weighs about as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 18.3 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 45 years (1932–1977).
metro: Urban rapid transit: frequent, high-capacity trains, often underground.
spec sheet
- built
- 1932
- in service from
- 1932
- retired
- 1977
- status
- retired
- number built
- 500
- kind
- metro
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- American Car and Foundry Company
- operators
- Independent Subway System, New York City Board of Transportation, New York City Transit Authority
- top speed
- 88 km/h
- power
- 142 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- formation
- motorized single units (Half-width operator's cab at each end; conductor controls on exterior)
- length
- 18.3 m
- weight
- 38.3 t
- capacity
- 56 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7274785, Wikipedia: R4 (New York City Subway car) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.