Metro and a Chinese company held a signing ceremony Wednesday at Union Station to cement a $178 million deal for the purchase of 64 rail cars.
The cars will be used on the Red and Purple lines to replace existing ones and for a planned extension into Beverly Hills in 2023, with some of the manufacturing done locally.
The deal also includes five options to buy up to 282 cars for $647 million.
“Today is another milestone day in our efforts to make Los Angeles the transit capital of the world,” said John Fasana, Metro’s board chair and mayor pro tem of the city of Duarte.
“I’d like to thank China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. for building the train cars we critically need to provide fast, reliable, frequent and high-capacity subway service to more L.A. County residents,” he said.
China Railway Rolling Stock has committed to delivering the first pilot vehicle by the spring of 2020, and all 64 subway cars by September 2021.
“We are honored to have the opportunity to build subway cars for Metro,” said CRRC President Guohua Xi. “Our commitment is two-fold where collaboration with Metro on this project remains a priority, and a successful partnership is nurtured where our mutual vision to stimulate the local economy through education, vocational training and job creation in railcar manufacturing is realized.
A new facility will be purchased in the L.A. area to manufacture major components for the cars, while the exterior shells will be built in the company’s facility in Changchun, China, with final assembly being done in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Metro officials said the contract exceeds the federal government’s “Buy American” provisions, which require that 60 percent of component parts be American-made.
“We are confident that our contract with CRRC will produce the best, highest quality rail vehicles that our customers expect and deserve,” Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington said.
“Metro is leading a transit infrastructure revolution in L.A. County, with three major rail lines concurrently under construction. The Purple Line, Crenshaw/LAX and Regional Connector lines are scheduled to open within a few years of each other,” he said. “Our strategic investments today will enable us to easily accommodate tens of thousands of future Metro customers.”
— City News Service