A prototype of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)’s new orange line train built by China Railway Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC) made its debut at Boston City Hall Plaza in early April, which gave Bostonians a chance to catch a glimpse of the trains they will ride soon.
In Oct. 2014, CRRC won a $ 566.6 millions contract from the MBTA to supply 152 railcars for the Orange Line and 132 for the Red Line to replace the cars for Greater Boston’s subway system that have been in service for over 30 years. Since then, MBTA added a US$277 million contract for an additional 120 Red Line cars.
The cars will be assembled in a 204,000-square-foot, US$95 million factory of CRRC MA Corp located in Springfield, MA. Production is set to start in April 2018 and will be expected to last at least five years. Local officials said at least 150 employees will be hired for the CRRC’S Springfield plant.
Created by a merger of China CNR Corporation and CSR Corporation Limited in 2015, CRRC is the world’s largest rolling stock manufacturer. So far, CRRC has won bids to build railcars for Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
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