New York City Transit to Award Contract for New Generation Subway Cars

Tokyo, January 25, 2018 – Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc. (KRC), its U.S. subsidiary based in Yonkers, New York, will receive an order for 535 new generation subway cars, known as the R211 series, from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) New York City Transit (NYCT*1). The order is worth approximately $1.4 billion dollars (158 billion Japanese yen).

Kawasaki will manufacture the R211 subway cars at its facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska (Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., USA) and Yonkers, New York. The state of the art Lincoln Nebraska facility, established in 2001, will manufacture the car body structure and install interior equipment, while final assembly and function testing will be performed at the Lincoln Facility and the Yonkers Facility, established in 1989, in Yonkers, New York. The cars are scheduled to be delivered to NYCT from 2020 through 2023.

In addition to the base order of 535 cars, the contract will include options for up to 1,077 cars that NYCT may exercise bringing the total number of the cars to 1,612, with a total contract value of approximately $3.7 billion dollars (403 billion Japanese yen). In the event all options are exercised, the R211 contract would be the largest rail contract ever awarded to Kawasaki, enabling Kawasaki to keep its US production line in operation up until the year 2025.

Kawasaki has successfully delivered over 2,200 cars to NYCT since receiving its initial order in 1982 for the R62 subway cars. The R211 subway cars are scheduled to replace the authority’s fleet of R46 cars and Staten Island Railway’s fleet.

The R211 cars are being introduced as a part of NYCT’s efforts to modernize and improve reliability and service to NYCT’s customers. The cars will be equipped with LED lighting, digital displays and wider doors, enabling passengers to enter and exit the trains more smoothly, thus reducing the time trains sit at the station. Twenty (20) cars of the initial contract will feature an open gangway design, to allow passengers to move freely between cars to reduce crowding by expanding capacity and distributing passenger loads more evenly throughout the train.

Kawasaki has gained credibility through its past project performance, high technology and vehicle reliability, which all contributed to the successful award of the R211 contract.

The R211 contract will continue Kawasaki’s business in the United States into the future in combination with the Series 7000 subway cars for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, M-9 cars for the Long Island Rail Road and the M-8 cars for the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.

Kawasaki will continue to build its credibility with its technological expertise by providing environmentally friendly modes of transportation to the United States and markets around the world.

Summary of the R211 cars

*1

NYCT is a public authority that operates public transportation in New York City and part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) which includes the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Commuter Railroad.

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