The cars — a variant of the R-211s running on the A line in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens since last year — replace the half-century-old R-44 cars serving Staten Island since 1973.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is rolling into the future, one train car at a time. On Tuesday morning, the newest train for the SIR departed from Platform 5 at the St. George Terminal as part of the inaugural ride for the agency’s new, state-of-the-art R211S train cars.

The cars replace ones from 1973, which entered service when the Staten Island Railway was referred to as the "Toonerville Trolley."

New train cars were introduced on Staten Island for the first time in more than 50 years on Tuesday, MTA officials said. The MTA launched new R211S subway cars into service on the Staten Island Railway.