Redundant New York subway cars are to be converted into mobile pump trains which can be used to remove water from tunnels following hurricanes and unusually heavy rainfall. The project forms part of NYC Transit’s storm preparedness efforts following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and is being funded with a Federal Transit Administration emergency relief grant.
The conversion will use four withdrawn Kawasaki R110A cars which were built as technology demonstrators in 1993, and is to be undertaken by Brookville Equipment Corp under a $23·9m contract. There will be two sets each comprising a one pump car and one generator car, which will be used with NYCT’s existing hose and reach cars to pump water out of subway tunnels. Each pump car will have four inline submersible pumps, and one horizontal pump for use in especially low areas. The pumps will be individually controlled.