BOSTON – FIRST US CITY TO IMPORT CHINESE SUBWAY SYSTEM

Chinese train makers finally cracks US market as CRRC wins contract to supply Boston subway system with rail cars.

World’s largest and Chinese state-owned train maker, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), has won a US$842m contract to supply hundreds of rail cars for the Boston subway system.

The first batch of 152 carriages for the city’s Orange Line will be shipped to Boston in December while another set of 132 cars will follow to replace the Hawker Siddeley Canada units that were installed in the seventies.

These carriages have a service life of 30 years and the company claims to have taken 80 measures to cut their weight by 1.8 tonnes.

CCRC had previously won a US$137m contract from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to make heavy rail engines and these locomotives will be due for delivery by 2019.

This CRRC Boston deal shows that the attitude of Americans towards Chinese trains is changing, because just a year ago,  a scheme to build a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas by the Chinese was called off because the US Government insisted that the trains must be manufactured in America.

Vice-president of CRRC’s subsidiary in the US, Jia Bo, said CRRC have satisfied over 120 standards required by US regulators, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, Americans with Disabilities Act and the Public Transportation Safety Act of Massachusetts.

Some persons are criticizing the award of the contract to CRRC, citing the fact that the Chinese company benefited from state aid, which enabled it to underbid its rivals.

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