Report: The MBTA’s subway manufacturer turned in unfinished cars

The manufacturer charged with building hundreds of new Red and Orange Line trains reportedly submitted unfinished cars to the MBTA for final inspection, the latest hiccup in a yearslong project plagued with delays and quality concerns. 

Emails between MBTA officials and manufacturer CRRC MA document incomplete paint repairs, connectors seen hanging on underframes, and “parts sanded down to bare metal,” according to the Boston Herald, which first reported this story.

“It’s been 4.5 years and over 90 cars since CRRC started producing MBTA vehicles out of Springfield,” MBTA technical project manager Rick Staples said in one letter to CRRC MA production manager Michael Wilson, the Herald reported. 

“It is clear that the condition of these cars is unacceptable for inspection request, yet CRRC requested the inspection,” the letter reportedly read. “Why does this type of process failure continue to happen?”

According to the Herald, Staples asked CRRC for an explanation, information on who checked the cars’ condition prior to the inspection request, and corrective action to address shortcomings in the company’s quality process moving forward.

A CRRC MA spokesperson did not respond to Boston.com’s request for comment.

The concerns raised in those emails were addressed and corrected before the cars were shipped, MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said in a statement provided to Boston.com. 

“The emails demonstrate the MBTA’s ongoing commitment to hold the contractor accountable for the quality of its work,” Pesaturo said. “These cars are highly complex pieces of equipment, and the MBTA is paying close attention to every detail and communicating with the contractor that we will not accept cars that do not meet the highest standards in quality and performance.”

This isn’t the first time the MBTA has raised concerns about the quality of the workmanship at the manufacturer’s Springfield facility. 

In a December letter to CRRC MA’s project director, MBTA Deputy Director Mark DeVitto accused the company of having “completely abandoned its core responsibility and commitment to lead, monitor, mentor, and support quality management … functions.”

The letter pointed to “chronic” quality issues that led to “major disruptions, rework and delays in production and delivery of Orange and Red Line Cars.” 

CRRC is contracted to build 404 new Red and Orange Line cars for the MBTA. While some of the new trains are already in use, the project has suffered significant delays as a result of the pandemic, supply chain and staffing issues, and quality assurance challenges.  

Speaking with The Boston Globe for an article earlier this year, several former workers from CRRC’s Springfield facility described a chaotic and dysfunctional environment where cars with missing parts were advanced down the assembly line without proper paperwork.

A former test engineer told the Globe he would sometimes test cars that didn’t have all their parts. 

“They skip steps and they go back,” he told the newspaper. “Everyone had to be a yes man no matter how ludicrous you thought something was.”

Meanwhile, the new Orange Line cars already in service have seen problems with derailment, electrical malfunctions, and battery failure, among other issues.

The lack of available cars has also impacted service frequency on the Orange Line, MBTA Senior Director of Service Planning Melissa Dullea said during a public meeting on summer service changes Monday.

“There are some speed restrictions because of the tracks, but really the Orange Line’s been dominated by vehicle availability,” Dullea said.

Dullea said the T expects to increase the number of daily scheduled trains from 10 to 11 this summer, and possibly up to 12 trains in the fall.

However, she noted it depends on vehicle availability.

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

Want to leave a comment?

Create an Account Or sign in to your account

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

To comment, please verify your email address

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com