China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. subsidiary CSR Sifang America will supply 846 new rail cars to Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), after winning the $1.3 billion deal. (Photo : REUTERS)
CSR Sifang America, a subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC), got a $1.3 billion contract to supply the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) with 846 railcars, considered to be the biggest train order in the city's history.
China Daily reported that the new cars, the 7000-series, will be assembled in the newly built plant in the city, and will look similar to the 2600-series cars which have been in operation since the 1980s.
Brian Steele, a CTA spokesman, said that around 169 new jobs will be created by the contract, which will include the hiring of electricians and mechanical engineers.
The report said that CSR Sifang America is an offshoot of the joint venture between Qingdao-based CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd. and Chicago-based CSR America.
In Springfield, Massachusetts, another CRRC subsidiary is also building railway vehicles as part of a deal with the local transport authorities to supply 284 railcars for the Boston transit system.
According to officials, CTA ordered the last batch of railcars, the 5000-series, about a decade ago with Canada's Bombardier Inc., which lost out in the bidding by around $226 million this time.
In 2013, CTA started the process but the bidding drew little interest until the tender was revised and re-launched in 2014.
The report said that the CTA will receive the prototype railcars in 2019, and the cars will go into service the following year. More than 400 railcars from the base order will arrive by 2024, with options for an additional 446 vehicles afterward.
Steele said that about half of its railcars will be replaced with the purchase of new cars, giving the city one of the youngest rail fleets in the United States. This lowers the average age of a railcar from 26 years in 2011 to 13 years once the order is delivered, and saves the city about $7 million a year in maintenance costs.
The 7000-series railcars will have mostly aisle-facing seats, which would provide more standing room during rush hour, different from the seating arrangement of Bombardier cars, CRRC Qingdao Sifang said in a statement.
CRRC added that new railcars, which run at a speed of 112 kilometers per hour, will be equipped with air conditioners, LED lighting, and passenger information systems.
The new deal was hailed by Wang Mengshu, a deputy to the National People's Congress and deputy chief engineer of China Railway Tunnel Group Ltd., as "another major breakthrough for the Chinese railway industry in the North American market."
