R68 (New York City Subway car)

R68
R68
	An R68 train on the D at 50th Street
	Interior of an R68 car
Stock type	Electric multiple unit
In service	1986–present
Manufacturers	Westinghouse-Amrail Company (aka Francorail):; Westinghouse, ANF Industrie (all cars); Jeumont Schneider (2500–2724); Alstom (2725–2924);
Built at	Crespin, France (final assembly: New York Harbor, US)
Family name	SMEE
Replaced	Most R10s, R27s, and R30s; All remaining R16s;
Constructed	1986–1988
Entered service	April 13, 1986 (revenue service testing); June 20, 1986 (official service);
Number built	425
Number in service	421
Successor	R211; R268;
Formation	2500–2915 (416 cars) are linked into 4 car units; 2916–2924 (9 cars) remain as single units with OPTO switches added;
Fleet numbers	2500–2924
Capacity	70 (seated)
Operator	New York City Subway
Depots	Concourse Yard (284 cars); Coney Island Yard (141 cars)
Services assigned	; (Updated June 30, 2024)
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless steel with fiberglass end bonnets
Train length	2 car train: 150 feet (46 m); 4 car train: 300 feet (91 m); 8 car train: 600 feet (180 m);
Car length	74 ft 8.5 in (22.77 m) (over anticlimbers)
Width	10 ft (3,048 mm) (over threshold)
Height	12.08 ft (3,682 mm)
Platform height	3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Doors	8 sets of 50 inch wide side doors per car
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight	92,720 lb (42,057 kilograms)
Traction system	E-Cam control (Adtranz)
Traction motors	115 hp (85.8 kW) 1447J DC motor (Westinghouse)
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 systems	Third rail, 600 V DC
Current collection	Contact shoe
Braking systems	New York Air Braking (NYAB) GSX23 Newtran "SMEE" braking system, NYAB tread brake rigging model TBU190
Safety systems	dead man's switch, tripcock
Coupling system	Westinghouse H2C
Headlight type	halogen light bulbs
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The R68 is a B Division New York City Subway car order consisting of 425 cars built by the Westinghouse-Amrail Company (aka Francorail), a joint venture of Westinghouse, ANF Industrie, Jeumont Schneider, and Alstom. The cars were built in France from 1986 to 1988 and shipped through New York Harbor. Of the cars in the fleet, 416 are arranged in four-car sets while the other nine are single cars.

The R68 was the third R-type series consisting of 75-foot (22.86 m) cars. The first R68 train entered service on June 20, 1986. The R68's manufacturers suffered from significant system integration problems, and the fleet became known as a "lemon" in its early years, but its performance was improved following modifications by the New York City Transit Authority. In the 2010s, a small number of R68s received experimental upgrades.