R160 Subway Car Prototypes for New York City Transit

This is an extremely important customer project. The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority - New York City Transit
is the largest subway fleet operator and one of the most
extensive and complex public transportation systems in the
world. Each day, more than seven million people use NYCT
over two billion customers annually.

The ALSTOM cars will represent a major upgrade to
NYCTs fleet, and will be equipped with several hi-tech
customer amenities, including state-of-the art air-conditioning
systems, electronic strip maps and signs displaying route and
station information.

The ALSTOM share of the 660 car  base order is 400
cars, and will be delivered in a 2006 to mid-2008 timeframe.
The R160 body shells are being manufactured in ALSTOMs
facilities in Lapa, Brazil, and the remaining share of
ALSTOMs order will be built up and tested in Hornell.
The NYCT R160 Project is the biggest mass transit award from
any agency in the United States to date.

Although ALSTOM experienced some well-publicized delays in
recent months, the R160 delivery indicates that the project has
now stabilized and the quality of the product delivered from
Hornell is recognized by the NYCT.



For a perspective on how the experience so far will impact the
companys future work, ALSTOM Transport NAFTA Senior Vice
President, Roelof van Ark, believes that quality was and will
continue to be the driver on the NYCT project. Quality
and the resultant product reliability are ALSTOMs
priorities and despite the many challenges, our project team
was vigilant in not compromising quality over schedule,
he commented. In the end, this decision was the right
one, as the first 10 cars shipped to the customer represent a
high quality product.

From this viewpoint, it is clear that Hornell is well
prepared for the next phase of the project. The project
teams experience, combined with NYCTs drive for
quality and the support that they provided during the prototype
build process, ensures that the proper focus is in place at
ALSTOM for the start of full-scale production in 2006.