R32 (New York City Subway car)

R32
An R32 train on the A at 80th Street
Interior of an R32 car
In service	1964–2022
Manufacturer	Budd Company
Built at	Philadelphia
Replaced	Many remaining BMT Standards All remaining BMT D Triplex Units
Constructed	1964–1965
Entered service	September 14, 1964
Refurbished	1988–1990
Scrapped	2007–2008 (GE-rebuilt cars) 2008–2009 (Phase II cars) 2009–2013 (some Phase I cars) 2022–present (remaining Phase I cars)
Number built	600
Number in service	(1 in work service)[1]
Number preserved	10
Number scrapped	522
Successor	R160 (GE, Phase II, and some Phase I cars) R179 (remaining Phase I cars)
Formation	Married Pairs
Fleet numbers	3350–3949 (3659 renumbered to 3348)
Capacity	50 (seated)
Operators	New York City Subway
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless steel
Train length	2 car train: 120.25 feet (36.65 m) 4 car train: 240.50 feet (73.30 m) 6 car train: 360.75 feet (109.96 m) 8 car train: 481 feet (147 m) 10 car train: 601.25 feet (183.26 m)
Car length	over coupler faces: 60 ft 3 in (18.36 m)
Width	10 ft (3,048 mm)
Height	12.08 ft (3,682 mm)
Platform height	3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Entry	3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Doors	8 sets of 45-inch (1,143 mm) wide side doors per car
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight	79,930 lb (36,260 kg) (post-rebuild) (70,000 lb or 31,751 kg when delivered)
Traction system	General Electric SCM 17KG192E3, DC propulsion system
Traction motors	GE 1257E1 motors or Westinghouse 1447JR (115 hp or 86 kW per axle) (R32GE cars used 115 hp or 86 kW 1257F motors, all cars originally had Westinghouse 1447JR motors)
Acceleration	2.5 mph/s (4.0 km/(h⋅s))
Deceleration	3.0 mph/s (4.8 km/(h⋅s)) (full service) 3.2 mph/s (5.1 km/(h⋅s)) (emergency)
Electric system(s)	600 V DC Third rail
Current collector(s)	Contact shoe
Braking system(s)	WABCO RT2 SMEE braking system, A.S.F. simplex unit cylinder clasp (tread) brake
Safety system(s)	tripcock
Coupling system	Westinghouse H2C
Headlight type	halogen light bulb
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The R32 was a New York City Subway car model built by the Budd Company from 1964 to 1965 for the IND/BMT B Division. A total of 600 R32s were built, numbered 3350–3949, though some cars were re-numbered. The R32 contract was divided into two subcontracts of 300 cars each: R32 (cars 3350–3649) and R32A (cars 3650–3949); the former was paid by the city's capital budget and the latter was paid through a revenue bond. All were arranged as married pairs.

The R32s were the first mass-produced stainless steel cars built for the New York City Subway. A ceremonial introduction trip for the new R32 "Brightliners" cars was held on September 9, 1964. Various modifications were made over the years to the R32 fleet. In the late 1980s, all of the R32 cars were rebuilt, with ten cars being rebuilt by General Electric and the remaining cars being rebuilt by Morrison–Knudsen. As part of the refurbishment, the original rollsigns and express/local marker lights at the end of each car were replaced with flipdot signs. After refurbishment, the R32 and R32A cars were renamed R32 Phase I, R32 Phase II, and R32 GE.

The R160 order was to replace all R32s in the late 2000s, but about one-third of the original fleet remained, when it was decided to retire the NYCT R44s instead. The R179 order replaced the remainder of the R32s in the early 2020s.^[2] The R32s temporarily resumed service from July 1, 2020 through October 8, 2020 when the R179s were pulled from service.^[3] A series of farewell trips with the final train of R32s running in passenger service began on December 19, 2021 and concluded on January 9, 2022. After retirement, most of the R32s were scrapped, sunk as artificial reefs, or placed into storage, but some have been preserved, and others retained for various purposes.