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Over 160 workers to be furloughed at Springfield rail plant after MBTA car parts get stuck in customs

Key car shells have been stuck in customs for months, forcing CRRC to halt production of MBTA and LA Metro cars.

A first look at the new MBTA Red Line cars in 2019. Barry Chin / The Boston Globe, File

updated on January 20, 2026

2 minutes to read

Facing months of customs delays on critical car shells and parts, the Chinese-owned railcar maker China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation announced Thursday that it will furlough 161 Springfield workers.

In the subsidiary CRRC MA’s state filing, the company said the ongoing delays stem from a U.S. Customs detention notice tied to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

The 2021 law bans imports from China’s Xinjiang region made with forced labor and requires importers to provide “clear and convincing evidence” that their goods have no links to forced labor.

In response, CRRC MA and its suppliers established a special task force of 80 experts to track products stuck in U.S. Customs since May, a process the company says required them to fill out more than 2,000 documents, all due on Jan. 7.

The CRRC MA task force is tracing components through eight supplier levels, involving hundreds of companies, to comply with customs regulations.

Work teams conducted over 100 on-site supplier visits and held more than 1,000 planning sessions to document the sources of raw materials used in each component.

Due to the new requirements, time constraints forced officials to return a shipment at the Port of Philadelphia while they collected the required detailed information.

“By staying laser-focused on answering (Customs and Border Protection’s) outstanding questions, we remain confident that car shipments will be allowed to resume,” MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said in a statement.

The company filed a 60-day notice with the state, stating that it does not know when the car shells and components will be released and that it anticipates two-month furloughs beginning March 16.

The company expects the furloughs to last through May 15, but it is unclear whether the delay in goods will prompt CRRC MA to extend it.

CRRC MA will offer furloughed employees health care and will have the MassHire Rapid Response Team on-site to provide details on their programs.

“CRRC MA understands the severity of this situation, including the impact on the company’s operations, financial stability, and our workforce,” the company said in a statement.

Embattled contract with CRRC

Massachusetts first awarded CRRC MA a contract in late 2014 to build 152 new Orange Line cars and 132 new Red Line cars, according to a March 2024 MBTA procurement update. A later revision expanded the order to include another 120 Red Line cars and set a five-year timeline for initial deliveries, bringing the total cost to between $1.1 billion and $1.4 billion.

CRRC MA has since delivered all 152 Orange Line cars, completing that fleet, but only 60 Red Line cars to date — well past the September 2023 deadline.

CRRC, founded in 1888, designs and manufactures high-speed trains, transit vehicles, passenger coaches, wind power equipment, and engineering machinery. Its U.S. subsidiary, CRRC MA Corporation, opened in 2014 with a manufacturing plant in Springfield.

The company reports 459 employees, including 406 based at the Springfield facility, of whom 254 are union production workers represented by Sheet Metal Workers Local 63 and Electrical Workers Local 7.

CRRC says it holds contracts in Massachusetts, California, and Illinois to supply more than 700 railcars nationwide, including vehicles for the MBTA and Los Angeles Metro.

But the company has faced setbacks: In 2024, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority terminated its $185 million contract with CRRC MA for 45 double-decker passenger cars, citing delays and cost overruns, according to the Alliance for American Manufacturing.