Bon voyage: Old subway cars float off across New York Harbor

Bon voyage: Old subway cars float off across New York Harbor

One World Trade Center in Manhattan is visible from a railroad barge carrying retired 1960s-era R-32 subway cars through New York Harbor in New York, on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Crews are taking the old subway cars to an Ohio scrapyard as the MTA installs new R-179 train cars into the city's sprawling subway system. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the end of the line for many of the old subway cars that remain in New York City rail yards. Millions of people have traveled on the R-32 cars since their introduction in the mid-1960s, but the days when the iconic stainless steel cars were used to transport passengers are long gone. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has replaced the R-32s with newly-built R-179 cars, and the R-32s are now being floated away across New York Harbor. They are headed to Jersey City and then Ohio. Their parts will be turned into scrap metal, recycled or saved for selling as memorabilia or collectibles.

Photo: One World Trade Center in Manhattan is visible from a railroad barge carrying retired 1960s-era R-32 subway cars through New York Harbor in New York, on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Crews are taking the old subway cars to an Ohio scrapyard as the MTA installs new R-179 train cars into the city’s sprawling subway system. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)