R46 6166

Location: Rockaway Park-Beach 116th Street, New York, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: September 2, 2019

Last month, the R46 subway cars marked 51 years of revenue service.  These cars first entered service on July 14, 1975.  Since the retirement of the R32 cars in early 2022, the R46 cars are the oldest currently running on the New York City Subway, but they are being phased out as this is written.  As the new R211 cars are delivered, additional R46 cars are being removed from service.

The R46 order was the largest single order of passenger train cars at the time of its completion, with 754 trains built.  The R46s were the second 75 foot long cars ordered for the B Division (former IND and BMT lines) with the expectation that they would soon be operating on the Second Avenue subway.  That eventually happened, but it took quite a few decades.  The R46 trains also incorporated some design improvements from the similar R44 cars, including a larger operator’s cab.  Unfortunately, this cab is a full width cab so there is no railfan window on these trains.  Although not as sluggish as the R68 or R68A fleet, which are nicknamed hippos, I’ve never felt that they were particularly fast.  Perhaps these characteristics are part of why these cars have never been my favorites.

After being a mainstay on the E, F, G, and R train for many years, the R46s were moved to the A as R160 trains arrived and R44 trains were retired.  The remaining cars now run on the N, Q, and W.

Happy 51st birthday R46s!  We’ll have to wait and see if they make it to a 52nd one.

For more photos of the R46 subway cars, please click here.  

R160A 8641

Location: 5th Avenue/53rd Street Station, New York, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: June 28, 2010

On December 8, 2025, a significant change was made to the F and M lines in Manhattan and Queens, dubbed the “F/M Swap.”  As the name implies, the F and M swapped routes between Midtown Manhattan and Queens.  Since December 2001, the F train had operated via the 63rd Street Tunnel, while the new V train operated via the 53rd Street Tunnel along with the E.  This was a significant change in and of itself, as not all express trains on Queens Boulevard would serve 53rd Street and its transfer to the 6 train at Lexington Avenue.  In the lead up to the service change in 2001, there were many requests for the F to remain as it was and for the V train to serve 63rd Street, but to no avail.  

In 2010 as part of a service cut, the V train was discontinued and replaced with the M train.  This marked the first time that the Chrystie Street Connector, a formerly out of service track between the 6th Avenue Line and Williamsburg Bridge, was put into revenue service in over four decades.  The M train made all V train stops except 2nd Avenue, and the F train remained unchanged and continued to operate on 63rd Street.  

In early 2025, there were rumblings that the MTA would swap the F and M trains in the name of “de-interlining”, or minimizing the number of splits and merges each line makes.  These merges can cause delays that can ripple across the system if one train is slightly behind schedule.  With the F train operating via 63rd Street, it has to merge with E trains at 36th Street in Queens and M trains at 47th-50 Streets in Manhattan, while the M has to merge with E trains at 5th Avenue/53rd Street in Manhattan and Queens Plaza in Queens, and outbound trains have to merge with the R at Queens Plaza as well.  With the swap in place, Queens Plaza is no longer a merge point for any of the trains stopping there.  The MTA confirmed that this swap would take place in December of 2025.  Only weekday service is impacted.  When the M is not operating its full route overnights and on weekends, the F continues to serve 63rd Street.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of this change.  I am skeptical that de-interlining is as beneficial as its proponents claim, but furthermore, I am not a fan of having the F taking an entirely different route between Manhattan and Queens at different times of day.  The MTA has simplified many services over the years so that destinations and routings are predictable.  For example, at one time, the 4 train would terminate at either Atlantic Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, or Utica Avenue depending on the time of day and day of the week, in a service pattern I still do not understand to this day.  Furthermore, there was a period where the 63rd Street Line (which then terminated at 21st Street-Queensbridge) would be served by either the Q, B, or F depending upon the time of day and day of the week.  The changes in 2001 simplified the service pattern, and the 2025 change reintroduces complexity.  

Pictured above is the first southbound M train from 71st Avenue to Metropolitan Avenue via the 53rd Street Tunnel and Chrystie Street connector back in June of 2010.  Except for unplanned reroutes, the M train will no longer be seen at this station anymore.

For more photos of the R160s, please click here.