Chinese company wins massive order to build railcars for Chicago

CSRSifangAmericaJV,asubsidiaryofChinaRailwayRollingStockCorporation(CRRC),haswona1.3-billion-US-dollarbidtosupplyChicagowith846railcars,thelargestsuchordereverplacedbytheChicagoTransitAuthority(CTA).

Itisexpectedthatthecompanywillbuildanew40-million-US-dollarassemblyfacilityinChicagoaspartofthedeal,whichislikelytocreate170jobs.Prototypemodelsoftherailcarsareexpectedtobereadyin2019,withthefirstrailcargoingintoservicein2020.

“Withthisagreement,CTAriderswillgetstate-of-the-artrailcarsandChicagoreturnstoourrootsastheplacewherethenextgenerationofrailcarsarebuilt,providinggoodjobsforourresidents.Thatisaclassicwin-winforChicago,”saidChicagoMayorRahmEmanuel.

ChicagoboastsofthesecondbiggestpublictransportsystemintheUS.Thecitycurrentlyhaseightsubwaylinesthatcoveratotallengthof170km.EmanuelandtheChicagoFederationofLaborhadinJuly2014announcedapartnershipwithCTAtoboostmanufacturingjobsinthecity.

Thebidsolicitationhadoriginallyaskedcompaniestoprovidethenumberandtypeofnewjobstheyplannedtocreateunderthedeal.CSRhadsubmittedthelowestbidof1.309billionUSdollarsfor846railcars.

CRRC,formedfollowingthemergerofformerrivalsCNRCorp.andChinaCSR,hasbeenactivelybiddingforcontractsinoverseasmarketsinrecentyears.Thecompanyhasalreadyexportedrailtransportationequipmentto101countriesandregions.IntheUS,CSRiscurrentlybuildingrailcarsforBoston’stransportsystem.

China’srailwaysectorhasgrownatarapidpaceinthelastfewyears.Thecountryishometotheworld'slargesthigh-speedrailwaynetwork,withanoperatinglengthof19,000km,asof2015,accountingfor60percentoftheworld'stotal.

ThegrowthhasledtoChineserailwaycontractorsexpandingtheirpresenceinEastAsia,Europe,RussiaandtheUS.

Forinstance,constructionworkisalreadyunderwaytobuildaChina-Laosrailwayline,aChina-Thailandrailroad,ahigh-speedrailnetworklinkingJakartaandBandunginIndonesiaandtheSerbiansectionoftheSerbia-Hungaryline.