This Westinghouse/AEG/ADTranz GTO system was quite popular in the 90s I noticed. Aside from these three subway trains, it's also used on the 1996 P2000 LRVs in Los Angeles and formerly on the Kinki Sharyo light rail vehicles in Dallas prior to their refurbishment into Super LRVs. I wonder what this system so popular?
The C301 is actually the original. Kawasaki started construction on TRTC’s order in 1991, while the R110As were constructed in 1992. It’s quite possible they shared floor space during construction as they were both assembled at the Yonkers factory.
Contrary to what people believe, that sound it makes isn't the gears but rather the sound comes from the thyristors. The train picks up DC current from the third rail, which gets converted into AC power using an inverter to drive the wheels. This supply is regulated with gate turn-off thyristors, which is the reason it makes that noise.
C301 takes it by virtue of having by far the best deceleration sound. Having regenerative braking unlike the other two means the wind-down is a lot more audible than on the T1 or R110A, and the traction sound doesn’t cut out until the train essentially stops. Acceleration sound is essentially a tie, although you can tell the T1 and R110A have lower-geared motors by their slightly faster “chopping” during acceleration.
The R110A in New York City (new technology train prototype) and Taipei Metro's C301 were both constructed in 1992 by Kawasaki Heavy Industries rail car division (with the C301 wearing the Union Rail Car subsidiary brand of KHI) while Bombardier Transportation (now part of Alstom Transport) built the T1 fleet for Toronto Transit Commission from 1995 to 2001.
![[2022!] NYCTA R110A V.S. TTC T1 V.S. Taipei MRT C301](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
