LUCAS WILLARD: After struggling at first to meet deadlines and other issues, a rail car manufacturer in western Massachusetts appeared to be back on track in recent years, delivering subway cars destined for Boston and beyond.
But, just as they were making headway, there was another production derailment – one that led to a lengthy slowdown at the Springfield plant and furloughs.
For the better part of a year, it wasn’t clear what would happen next for CRRC MA. That is, until this week. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos joins us now.
Hi James!
JAMES PALEOLOGOPOULOS: Hi, Lucas.
WILLARD: So, James what can you tell us about this situation?
PALEO: Lucas, I can tell you a federal hold that’s been strangling rail car production in Springfield has ended. We were one of the first outlets to report Wednesday that subway car shells made in China were no longer being held up by federal authorities.
The news came from CRRC MA itself, a subsidiary of the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.
Since last year, authorities with U.S. Customs and Border Protection halted the importation of CRRC train shells. Initially, production in Springfield was able to continue – it’s where final assembly of the cars happen - and, by the end of the year, the last MBTA Orange Line train cars the state ordered arrived in Boston.
But, come January, with no new shells, the company filed notice with the state that it would be furloughing just under half of its 406-person workforce in Springfield.
WILLARD: So, James – the big question: why the holdup?
PALEO: So, around May 2025, federal authorities halted some eight rail cars at the Port of Philadelphia. Authorities indicated it was tied to concerns that slave labor may have been used as the shells came together, forbidden under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Various companies in China use forced labor involving the country’s Uyghur population. The KTK Group, a rail car part supplier, has been accused of using Uyghur labor in the past and has previously been blacklisted by the United States.
They have also had a working relationship with CRRC, which has been a red flag across the globe.
It led in-part to the holdup and reviews, which CRRC MA reportedly complied with. But weeks turned into months and reviews appeared to only continue.
WILLARD: And so, any ideas about what might have changed?
PALEO: Right now, it’s not totally clear.
In a statement to WAMC, CRRC MA simply said it appreciated U.S. Customs’s “ongoing communication throughout the information gathering process to meet requirements of the detention notice.”
Throughout all of this, though state leaders have been keeping tabs on the situation, with Congressman Richard Neal of the 1st district making inquiries in Washington.
He spoke with WAMC [Thursday] morning.
We did speak with [a] United States trade representative, who did indicate that he would look into the matter. It's part, I think, of a national pattern, and I have been a supporter of human rights as it relates to the Uyghurs for sure, but all the data that was necessary to move these cars to Springfield had been accomplished. I thought that the holdup was, indeed, unnecessary.
So, I had a chance at [Tuesday’s] St Patrick's Day lunch, and anticipating that the president's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, would be there, I decided that we would put together a card with all of the vital statistics on it as it related to this plant. There's 400 jobs there: they're unionized, they're manufacturing, they're highly-skilled and they provide a very important public service.
I decided that I would use that opportunity to speak to the president's chief of staff … and I did!
WILLARD: So James, what were the stakes here? We’ve reported in the past how CRRC contracts with Massachusetts in 2014, how they picked Springfield for their production plant and how there’s been issues in the past, leading to contract adjustments… but what else is going on?
PALEO: So, there are not a lot of new factories going up in the Pioneer Valley. There are certainly manufacturers still, just not that many building $95 million manufacturing plants for $566 million contracts with the state.
For context, CRRC MA opened its factory in 2017 at the former Westinghouse manufacturing plant in East Springfield. Local officials frequently tout the union jobs that came with it – just over 250 of the 406 employees in Springfield [are represented].
Mayor Domenic Sarno says those jobs being in jeopardy [was] to the city’s detriment. He also tells WAMC he’s grateful for the Trump administration’s consideration.
I think what probably tugged at President Trump's heart were two things.
One, obviously, you pontificate about good-paying American manufacturing jobs: here, you're doing the exact opposite, an oxymoron or counterproductive. You're taking away hundreds and hundreds of those jobs.
And then two, he still wants to keep some type of relationships with President Xi and China.
But Richie [Neal] … the luck of the Irish … the timing that he did that... [to have] those notes ready ... to speak directly to Susie Wiles … I can't say enough about Richie.
WILLARD: James, last question: have any timelines for work resuming been announced yet?
PALEO: Not quite. CRRC MA says its goal is to bring back the workers it furloughed and resume full production of both MBTA and LA METRO rail cars.
At last check, according to WBUR, the company still has a backlog of about 190 MBTA Red Line cars to fill.
WAMC has reached out to union representatives for more info.
WILLARD: That was Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos reporting. James, thank you so much!
PALEO: Lucas, thank you!
