R40

The R40 cars are unique in appearance on the New York Subway system. They feature slanted fronts on all the cars. Since the cars are in 'married pairs,' two slanting ends face each other at every other car end. The slanted ends make for excellent riding between cars, and for great views out of full length front windows, but they reduce passenger space, as the MTA discovered shortly after introducing them in the late 60s. A second order in the R40 series, the R40Ms, did not have the slanted ends.

The R40s were the second to last order of 65 foot cars on the system. At this points they are rather old and clunky, and in failing shape. They will be among the first to go when the R143s arrive.

The slanted nose of the R40 led to another problem for the MTA: the noses were slanted in such a way that there was too much space between the doors leading through the train, resulting in an unsafe situation.

_______           ________
       \         /
       |\       /|        
       | \     / |         
       |  \   /  |        
_______|___\ /___|________

       ^--doors--^

To rectify this, the MTA had to weld bars to the front of each train, ruining the lines but making it safer to cross between train cars.

_______           ________
       \         /
       |\__   __/|        
       | \ \ / / |         
       |  \| |/  |        
_______|___\ /___|________