Description and features
The R143s are numbered 8101–8312. The 212 cars were expected to provide enough service for years, but the fast growth of the Williamsburg neighborhood overloaded the L by mid-2006. The R143s are the first 60-foot (18.29 m) B Division cars built for the New York City Subway system since the R42 from 1969, the first NTT model for the B Division, and the first automated fleet in the subway system. They are currently based at East New York Yard and assigned to the L and J/Z. The R143s are very similar to the R160s and R179s, but all three have technical differences. Initially, none of the three were able to interoperate, but modifications made in 2022 with the R143s and the four-car sets of R160As have allowed the two to operate together in one train. Like the R142s, R142As, and R188s, the R143s feature electronic strip maps, depicting all stops on the L route. , the R143s are being retrofitted with strip maps that show all stops on the L and J/Z routes. These newer installations depict the L and J/Z routes using two separate maps side-by-side, using the same 63-light console. Unlike the rest of the NTT fleet at the time, the R143s are equipped with interior LED screens, which take the place of the MTA Arts for Transit cards that are usually located there. These screens can display advertisements, public safety announcements, and other information. Several cars of the NTT fleet were similarly retrofitted with LCD screens after they were delivered. However, the LCD screens have the capability to display multiple colors instead of only red, orange, and green.Communications-based train control
The Transit Authority had projected that 212 Kawasaki-made R143 subway cars would be enough to accommodate ridership demands for years to come, but ridership has risen higher than expected. Therefore, sixty-four new R160A cars manufactured byHistory
Timeline of contract
The contract for the R143 was put out to tender in January 1998. The initial contract called for 100 sixty-foot cars that would come in five-car sets. The new cars would be expected to have automatic PA announcements, high efficiency lighting, emergency intercom and customer alarms, AC propulsion motors, speedometers and event recorders, electronic information display signs, artwork, a central diagnostics monitoring system, microprocessor-controlled air compressor, brake and communication systems, roof-mounted microprocessor-controlled HVAC, and to be compliant with ADA requirements. Kawasaki Rail Car Company was awarded a $190 million contract for 100 new B Division cars in late December 1998, with an option for 112 more cars. The new design was based on the A Division's R142A, which Kawasaki also built, and incorporated many features from the R110A and R110B prototypes. The cars were built with an average cost of about $1.5 million per car.Delivery
Delivery of the cars began in late 2001. A 30-day revenue acceptance testing with one train of eight cars (8101–8108) began on December 4, 2001. According to Kawasaki, the test was "extremely successful". KawasakiPost-delivery
Cars 8205–8212 were originally delivered with experimental Siemens traction motors that would be later found in R160B cars 8843–9102. These cars were eventually refitted with the Bombardier MITRAC traction motors found on all other R143s. On April 18, 2004, an eight-car R143 train overshot the bumper at Eighth Avenue after the operator suffered a possible seizure. The lead car, 8196, presumably suffered damage while the rest of the consist did not. By 2007, it had been repaired and returned to service. On June 21, 2006, another eight-car R143 train overshot the bumper, this time at the end of the tracks in theReferences
External links