CRRC MA Co., Ltd. is a Chinese-American rolling stock manufacturer in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is part of the larger Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC. Its offices and company headquarters are located in Quincy, MA.
| Formerly | CNR MA |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Rolling Stock |
| Founded | 2014-2015 |
| Headquarters | , USA |
Number of locations | Springfield, Massachusetts |
Area served | United States |
| Products | CRRC HR4000 MBTA Orange Line 1400-1500 series (current stock) and MBTA Red Line 1900-2100 series |
Number of employees | 258 (177 Union) |
| Parent | CRRC |
| Website | www |
This Springfield facility is responsible for the manufacturing and delivery of metro and commuter rail cars for the MBTA and LA Metro.
History
editCRRC MA was first established as CNR MA in 2014.[1] It won a state contract to manufacture new railcars for the MBTA Red and Orange lines within the state of Massachusetts.[2] At the time, no railcar manufacturing facilities existed in the state of Massachusetts.
The new 150,000 square ft assembly facility was built on the former site of a New England Westinghouse Company property and manufacturing started shortly after the facility's opening.
Contracts and delays
editIn March 2017, the company was awarded a contract to build 45 train cars for SEPTA at the cost of $137.5 million with the cars expected to arrive in Philadelphia in 2019.[3] A month later, they had won a contract to build the HR4000 series cars for the Los Angeles Metro Rail, and deliver the entire base order of 64 subway cars by September 2021.[4]
On July 2, 2019, SEPTA and CRRC agreed to a six-month extension on the delivery deadline for the 45 Springfield-built double-decker commuter rail cars.[5] A few weeks later, Congress banned federal funding for new railcars for practically all Chinese-made buses and trains, citing connections with the People's Liberation Army.[6] However, funding from other sources is still allowed, but it is rare for this to happen.
Some delays had been found in the factory but there is work to improve the situation as of early 2022. However, quality control issues still have surfaced. Federal transportation officials visited the Springfield facility in March 2023, as part of its "scheduled review” compliance with the Buy America provision in place.[7]
In December 2022, the MBTA accused the CRRC MA of abandoning their core values after a MBTA engineer conducted a recent inspection and found failures of power cable, and pulled nine cars of Springfield-built Orange Line cars from service.[8][9]
CRRC MA notified MBTA officials in January 2023 about delaying the delivery of the remaining Orange and Red Line railcars by December 2023 and September 2026.[10]
In August 2023, LA Metro received its first trainset of the 64-car order.[11] The second MBTA Red Line trainset entered service in January 2024, few years after the first had entered operation in December 2020.[12]
In late March of 2024, the state of Massachusetts and CRRC officials agreed to extend the company’s deadline to deliver a total of 404 railway cars from the long-missed due dates of January 2022 and September 2023, until 2029. The state also agreed to increase the cost of the contract by $148 million to over $1 billion.[13] With SEPTA not receiving a single car due to delays, it had announced it would terminate [the contract] for cause.[14]
Products
editRapid Transit
edit- MBTA Red Line 1900-series
- MBTA Orange Line 1400-series
- Los Angeles Metro Rail HR4000
Coaches
editGallery
edit-
1900-series MBTA Red Line train in service in July 2024 -
1400-series MBTA Orange Line train in service in July 2024 -
Front exterior view of the new HR4000 for LA Metro
References
edit- ^ "North American Footprint". CRRC. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Matt (October 22, 2014). "Chinese Company Hopes MBTA Contract Will Be U.S. Launching Pad". www.wbur.org. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ Kinney, Jim (24 March 2017). "Springfield CRRC plant gets $137.5M Philly train car job". MassLive.com. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ Sotero, Dave (April 12, 2017). "Metro, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation hold signing ceremony for $178-million subway car contract". The Source. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
- ^ Kinney, Jim (2 July 2019). "CRRC, SEPTA delays rail car order from Springfield". MassLive.com. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ "Banning Chinese buses, railcars? It may "hurt Americans" rather than help". Xinhua. July 26, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ^ Buskirk, Chris Van (March 30, 2023). "Feds inspect Springfield CRRC plant to ensure adherence to Buy America requirements". MassLive. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
- ^ Kinney, Jim (2022-12-30). "MBTA finds more problems with Springfield-built Orange Line cars, pulls nine from service". MassLive. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
- ^ Kinney, Jim (2023-01-05). "MBTA takes Chinese company to task over faulty Springfield-built subway cars". MassLive. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
- ^ Worrell, Carolina (2023-01-30). "Reports: CRRC MBTA Railcar Delivery Delayed Again". Railway Age. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
- ^ Lassen, David (18 August 2023). "LA receives new subway cars". trains.com. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ "Second CRRC trainset enters service on MBTA's Red Line". trains.com. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ https://www.masslive.com/boston/2024/03/state-beefs-up-contract-with-springfields-crrc-railway-by-148-million-extends-deadline-for-subway-cars.html
- ^ https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/commuterregional/septa-terminates-crrc-contract-for-cause/
- ^ Fitzgerald, Thomas (20 July 2022). "A first glimpse of SEPTA's new double-decker Regional Rail cars, under construction in China". Inquirer.com. Retrieved September 25, 2022.