CRRC to build LA Metro subway cars
Written by Railway Age StaffChina Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) has contracted with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to build 64 new subway cars for the Metro Red and Purple Lines.
Metro in a Notice To Proceed said that the HR4000 heavy rail vehicles will replace older equipment on routes between downtown Los Angeles, the Mid-Wilshire District and North Hollywood, the Los Cerritos News reported.
Also, 34 of the new cars will be routed to the Purple Line to transit the four-mile extension from the Mid-Wilshire District to Beverly Hills, set to open in 2023.
The first pilot vehicle is slated for delivery in the spring of 2020, with the base order of 64 cars due in September 2021. The deal includes five options by Metro to purchase an additional 218 cars.
The total contract is valued at as much as $647 million.
The contract is expected to create approximately 50 local jobs. A new facility will be purchased in the L.A. area to manufacture major components for propulsion, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting systems. The cars’exterior shell will be manufactured at CRRC’s facility in Changchun, China, and final assembly will be done in Springfield, Mass.
The contract exceeds the federal government’s “Buy America” provisions, which require 60% of component parts be American-made.
