R1s were delivered in 1931, in anticipation for the opening of the IND Eighth Avenue Line. For their time, the R1s introduced several improvements to subway car design that greatly sped up the flow of passengers in and out of trains. The R40s, R42s, R44s, and R46s gradually replaced the fleet of R1s, with the final run taking place in 1976. Several R1 cars were saved for preservation, while the rest were scrapped. Description The R1s were numbered 100–399. They were the first "R" type contract order (referring to the practice of naming a car class by the letter "R" – which stands for rolling stock – followed by a number derived from the actual contract number). Future orders of subway cars, including those built for the A Division, would follow the R contract. The R2''' contract order was for trucks and motors for the R1 fleet. In 1930, each new car cost $39,201: $30,483 for the car body under contract R1, and $8,718 for trucks and motors under contract R2. History The first R1 cars to see passenger service were twenty individual cars to serve for two 8 car trains plus spares that were placed in revenue service on the BMT Sea Beach Line from July 8 to November 1931 for testing and then returned to the IND the same year. The BMT was to have been paid by the City of New York for the testing, but since they were fairly extensively used in service (made up as two 8-car trains), the BMT and City called it even. The cars were ordered so that the new Eighth Avenue Line subway could be operated. In 1949, when all of the R10 cars were delivered and placed in service on the A, approximately 90 of these R1 cars were transferred to the Coney Island Yard to relieve a car shortage on the BMT Southern Division, as well as to provide fleet for the conversion of the Astoria Line to BMT operation in October 1949. The fleet was expanded by stages and reached 140 cars by 1953. They were used for service on the BMT 2 (now R) Broadway–4th Avenue Local service. However, despite ostensibly relieving a car shortage on the BMT, through subway service in rush hours to Coney Island did not occur on the BMT West End Line until December 1953, and on the BMT Culver Line until October