Staten Island slated to secure first new subway cars in 50 years

It’s the Staten Island Railway’s time to shine — almost.

After 50 years, the MTA is rolling out new “cutting-edge cars” on the Staten Island Railway, starting with the first five R211 cars arriving in the borough on Tuesday.

The cars arrived at the Clifton Maintenance Shop on Staten Island via flatbed trucks overnight. Staten Island straphangers will get to ride them during a 30-day period starting in March of next year.

“I’m a bit from out of town — I’ve been here now for 18 months — and I’ve heard from time to time that Staten Island feels like it’s the forgotten borough. Well, I’m here to tell you today it is the remembered borough,” New York City Transit President Richard Davey said at a press conference. “The R211s, which we’ve been testing in our system on those other boroughs, will be coming soon here to Staten Island.”

The R211 cars will replace the current R44s, which have been running on the Staten Island Railway since 1973 — 50 years ago. In total, Staten Island will get 75 new cars on its rails featuring 58-inch-wide door openings — 8 inches wider than on the existing cars — as well as security cameras, LED lighting and digital displays.

The new cars were part of an order of 535 R211 subway cars that the MTA made in an ongoing effort to modernize the system and make it more reliable for riders. They were first rolled out along the A subway line in March and have since been added to other lines throughout the system.

Local elected officials praised the arrival of the new subway cars.

“Finally we have a new…