Inventory issues prompt worker concerns at Springfield rail car plant
SPRINGFIELD – Many of the 406 workers making subway cars in Springfield fear for their jobs, if their Chinese-owned plant runs out of its dwindling stock of unfinished shells due to interruptions in delivery.
But spokespeople for both CRRC MA and the MBTA, CRRC's biggest customer, say work continues at the sprawling 240,000-square-foot plant on Page Boulevard.
In 2014, under then-Gov. Deval Patrick, Massachusetts went without federal money on the Red Line and Orange Line projects so it could mandate that assembly work be done in the state.
The idea was to create a local rail car industry. CRRC won the bid over other competitors including Hyundai, which unsuccessfully sued over the deal, and build an $80 million factory.
The CRRC MA Springfield facility is responsible for the manufacturing and delivery of metro and commuter rail cars for the MBTA. Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
But even if the plant's resolves current issues with inventory, work at CRRC in Springfield could run out in 2027, with dim prospects for securing new contracts.
Workers in Springfield build cars for the T and for the Los Angeles subway system, from shells fabricated and partially assembled by CRRC in China.
But in May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service agents blocked the delivery of eight car shells and assorted parts at the Port of Philadelphia.
A shell for a CRRC rail or transit passenger car, wrapped in plastic and loaded on a freight car, waits in the CSX freight yard in West Springfield in 2024. (Jim Kinney / The Republican )The Republican
The Trump administration is reportedly concerned that CRRC is using parts and materials created by child laborers or by the forced labor of members of the Uyghur ethnic minority.
Mica mined by child laborers in Madagascar has ended up in the supply chains of CRRC and other Chinese manufacturers, according to reporting by NBC news in 2019.
Proving otherwise, or finding suppliers able to document the manufacturing process to the satisfaction of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service, takes time, according to both CRRC and the MBTA.
CRRC had to ship unfinished cars back to China, according both to the MBTA and to CRRC spokeswoman Lydia Rivera.
Rail cars are being built at the CRRC MA rail car facility in East Springfield in 2019. (The Republican / file photo)
An MBTA spokeswoman said CRRC is continuing to research data needed to satisfy customs rules on importation.
"The MBTA understands (Customs and Border Protection Service) need to verify the documentation, and the MBTA will continue to work closely with CRRC MA to identify other options including the use of alternative international suppliers of the materials and components needed for the cars," the T said in an email from a spokeswoman.
Concerned workers see the supply of car shells diminishing and worry about whether they'll be able to keep working, said state Sen. Adam Gomez Sr., D-Springfield.
Gomez, whose district includes the plant site and is home to many workers, started hearing concerns about a month ago. Those voices became more frequent this week, including late-night emails.
"If someone is emailing you at 11:30 at night," Gomez said, "These folks can't sleep."
He said he hopes to meet with the company to get answers.
Workers at CRRC's plant in Springfield start at a little more than $19 an hour but can earn as much as $40 an hour.
Of the 406 CRRC MA workers in Springfield, 254 are union production employees represented by Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 63 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 7.
Jeremy Dunn, IBEW Local 7 business manager, said CRRC has discussed shipping the shells from China to the United States with fewer components installed. Under this plan, more of the work would be done in Springfield.
"That's more work for our members," he said.
The China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation Limited (CRRC) on Page Boulevard in Springfield, July 1, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Sheet Metal Workers local officials didn't return calls and emails.
CRRC has hired a former Republican U.S. Rep. New Hampshire, Frank C. Guinta , to lobby U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to federal disclosures.
Guinta and Noem served in the U.S. House together.
The Rail Security Alliance, a Washington, D.C., trade group of domestic manufacturers of freight rail equipment, plans to meet with Homeland Security officials next month, as well and call for tighter enforcement, said Erik Olson, the alliance's executive director.
"We have had concerns with CRRC," Olson said. "Concerns with under-bidding and driving off competition, concerns with promising jobs and not delivering," he said. "There is a national security angle, too."
Alliance members are working to keep CRRC MA from building its foothold in the U.S. They lobbied against CRRC's bid to build cars for Toronto's metro. CRRC did not get that work.
Federal law barred CRRC from making cars for the Washington, D.C., Metro in 2019, a ban that has since been extended after a two-year grace period.
Now, CRRC is only able to do business with transit agencies it dealt with prior to the 2019 law.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, made sure that grandfather clause was included in the federal legislation limiting CRRC, to preserve jobs in Springfield. His spokesman said this week that Neal is monitoring the situation.
One of those transit systems, Philadelphia's SEPTA, pulled its contract from CRRC's Springfield plant in 2024 over concerns that too few of the components were made in the United States to meet contract requirements.
Olson said the federal government has discouraged CRRC's three U.S. customers – The T, Los Angeles and Chicago – from ordering more cars from CRRC, citing persistent quality problems.
Rivera said those quality control problems have been solved. The T has praised CRRC's progress in making on-time deliveries of quality cars.
CRRC MA delivered the last married pair of Orange Line cars to the MBTA Dec. 18, closing out the 152-car order, Rivera, the CRRC spokeswoman, wrote in an email this week. The plant continues to make Red Line subway cars. Production continues at the facility, with 58 of the ordered 252 cars delivered to the MBTA.
Those cars are expected to be delivered by the end of 2027.
In 2024, citing increased tariffs, costs and delays, the state increased its contract with CRRC by $148 million to over $1 billion.
An aerial view of the CRRC factory on Page Boulevard in Springfield. (The Republican / file photo)CRRC plant
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) ordered 64 subway cars from CRRC in 2017 in a contract worth $178 million.
The cars will enhance capacity on Los Angeles' B and D Lines in time for the 2028 Olympics. Rivera said CRRC MA delivered 40 cars to Los Angeles. Final delivery is in 2027.
Will that be the end of CRRC MA? The company hopes not.
"CRRC MA's goal is to maintain manufacturing jobs in Springfield and work towards securing more contracts as opportunities arise," Rivera wrote in an email.
Stories by Jim Kinney
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