askthemta@amny.com.<\/a><\/p>\nQ: It was so cool to ride the Redbirds to Opening Day for the Mets. What\u2019s the history of these cars? \u2014 Andrew F., Lower East Side\u00a0<\/p>\n
A: We\u2019re\u00a0so glad you enjoyed the Museum\u2019s ride to Opening Day.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0nothing quite like experiencing these cars in service again.\u00a0The Redbirds trace their origins to 1959, with the debut of the R26, the first of nine closely related subway car types that became synonymous with New York\u2019s transit system. Built between 1959 and 1964,\u00a0nearly 2,000\u00a0of these cars ran across every numbered line and several lettered lines, making them a familiar part of daily life for generations of riders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0cars\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0originally red. The fleet earned the nickname \u201cRedbirds\u201d after being painted bright red beginning in 1984, a move intended to combat graffiti. The fleets were part of a major modernization effort to replace aging IRT equipment from the early 1900s. From the late 1950s through the early 2000s, a subway ride\u00a0almost certainly\u00a0meant riding a Redbird. The last one retired from regular service in 2003.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today, several Redbirds\u00a0remain\u00a0in the New York Transit Museum\u2019s vintage fleet and run on special Nostalgia Rides. \u2014 Jodi Shapiro, Curator, New York Transit Museum<\/p>\n
Q: When will cellular service be available in all subway tunnels? \u2014 Hailey D., Greenpoint\u00a0<\/p>\n
A: Systemwide coverage is still a long-term goal, but\u00a0we are working with our partners at Boldyn to expand cell connectivity as efficiently as possible. When we do work in a tunnel, we help their crews take advantage of that outage to install connectivity-enabling equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most recently, Boldyn launched AT&T service in the Joralemon St tunnel and segments of the crosstown G line. With these activations, riders who use AT&T can now take advantage of complete cellular coverage on the 4 and 5 lines between Borough Hall and Fulton St, and on the G line between Court Square and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts. We\u2019re planning an expansion to segments north of 59 St next. \u2013 Jamie Torres-Springer, President, MTA Construction & Development\u00a0<\/p>\n
Q: Any updates on construction at the Steinway St subway station? \u2013 Natalia V., Astoria\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A: Crews are installing a new elevator at Steinway St to make the station fully accessible as part of the bundle of projects we call ADA Package 3. They\u2019re also making structural, architectural, and electrical improvements. Major construction should wrap up by the end of the year. \u2013 Brian Liona, Project CEO, Stations Business Unit, MTA Construction & Development\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy of the MTA amNewYork, in conjunction with the MTA, present \u201cAsk the MTA,\u201d a column where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[751,74840,9,11,10,74841,12707],"class_list":{"0":"post-186567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-ask-the-mta","9":"tag-cell-phone-service","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-redbirds","14":"tag-steinway-street"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Redbird](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Redbirds-traveling-on-the-7-Line.jpg\" "\\"Ask")
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