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R188 (New York City Subway car)

🇺🇸 United States ·built by Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing· from 2013· class of New York City Subway car

🚇 metro electric ✓ in service
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. R188 7 train: AEMoreira042281· CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. 2. 7 train approaching 40th Street Lowery June 2026 (cropped): 4300streetcar· CC BY 4.0
  3. 3. R188 7811-7821 Testing on Dyre Avenue Line: Fan Railer· CC0
  4. 4. NYC Subway R188 7 Train at 69 St-Fisk Av: Gh9449· CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5. R188 (7) test train at 74 St. Broadway: NewYork86· CC BY-SA 3.0
  6. 6. R188 7 Train 002: Kidfly182· CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. 7. R188 7 Train 003: Kidfly182· CC BY-SA 4.0
  8. 8. R188 7 Train 005: Kidfly182· CC BY-SA 4.0
  9. 9. R188 7 Train 008: Kidfly182· CC BY-SA 4.0
  10. 10. R188 7 Train 009: Kidfly182· CC BY-SA 4.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
R188 (New York City Subway car), photo 1 of 10
1/10 AEMoreira042281· CC BY-SA 3.0

what is it?

The R188 is a class of new technology (NTT) New York City Subway cars built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries for the A Division. The fleet entered service in 2013, displacing the mid-1980s–era R62A cars that operated on the 7 and <7> services, in conjunction with the automation of the IRT Flushing Line's signal system with communications-based train control (CBTC). The R188 order also expanded the 7's fleet as part of the 7 Subway Extension, which opened in 2015.

who runs it

New York City Subway

base stats

  • speed 106 km/htop speed
  • power 1.8 MWpower output
  • weight 33.3 tin working order
  • seats 176passengers
  • built 506made in total

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 13 years ago, in 2013.
  • 1.8 MW is about 21 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
  • Weighs about as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
  • 172 m long: about 38 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Seats 176: 4 full city buses (~50 seats each).

metro: Urban rapid transit: frequent, high-capacity trains, often underground.

spec sheet

built
2013
in service from
2013
status
in service
number built
506
kind
metro
traction
electric
origin
🇺🇸 United States
builders
Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing
operators
New York City Subway
top speed
106 km/h
power
1.8 MW
gauge
1,435 mm standard gauge
formation
5-car sets (A-B-B-B-A), 6-car sets (A-C-B-B-B-A)
length
172 m
weight
33.3 t
capacity
176 passengers

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q7274427, Wikipedia: R188 (New York City Subway car) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.

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