On Sept. 3, 2015, CRRC USA Rail Corp. will break ground on a new, 220,000-square-foot facility in Springfield, Mass., where it will manufacture 284 railcars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s “T” system in Boston.

MBTA earlier in 2015 awarded a $566.6 million contract to CRRC to design and manufacture 152 new Orange Line vehicles and 132 new Red Line vehicles for Boston’s rail transit system. To assemble the railcars locally, CRRC purchased a 40-acre industrial parcel located on Page Boulevard in Springfield, a former Westinghouse manufacturing center that once also housed the Stevens-Duryea automobile plant.

CRRC’s new plant, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2016, will also have 2,240-linear-foot test track.

The new cars will replace MBTA Orange Line cars averaging 32 years in age and Red Line cars operating for 44 years. The first cars are expected to be delivered in 2018. Orange Line production vehicles are set to be delivered at a rate of approximately four cars per month between late 2018 and the end of 2021, while Red Line cars will arrive between autumn 2019 and spring 2021.

CRRC (China Rail Rolling Stock Corp.) is the first Chinese railcar manufacturer to land a major U.S. transit contract. The company is a Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer. It was formed on June 1, 2015 with the merger of CNR Corp. Ltd. and CSR Corp. Ltd., and is now among the world’s largest rail rolling stock manufacturers. It has 176,000 employees; its headquarters is in Beijing. CNR and CSR, which together account for 80% of the rolling stock on China’s rail network, were once one company but were split in 2000. Their recombination was agreed-to in December 2014. The MBTA contract was originally awarded to CNR.

The new facility in Springfield will double as CRRC’s U.S. headquarters for seeking additional U.S. business.