CRRC plant in Massachusetts to lay off workers because of customs seizures

Two-month furlough planned for 161 workers as car shells, other parts remain held at Port of Philadelphia

Six-car train of rapid-transit equipmen — An MBTA Orange Line train of CRRC-built cars passes through Forest Hills, Mass., on April 29, 2025. CRRC’s Massachusetts factory has announced it will lay off workers because imported components continue to be held by U.S. customs officials. Scott A. Hartley

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — CRRC MA, the Massachusetts affiliate of Chinese rail manufacturer CRRC, will lay off 161 employees beginning March 16 because shells for subway cars being imported from China remain held up by U.S. customs officials.

The Springfield Republican reports the company, which employs more than 400 people at its Springfield, Mass., plant, announced the move on Friday (Jan. 16) after making the required 60-day notice of the layoffs. The workers involved include 57 members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 63, 76 members of the Electrical Workers Local 7, and 28 non-union supervisors and other workers. The layoffs are currently projected to last for two months.

The Springfield plant is building subway cars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and Los Angeles Metro. The MBTA order is years behind schedule after production and quality-control issues; the agency agreed in 2024 to pay an additional $148 million in an effort to get its order completed by 2027 [see “MBTA to pay more …,” Trains.com, March 29, 2024]. The 404 cars for the MBTA, ordered in two batches in 2014 and 2016, were all to have been delivered by 2023.

But production at Springfield has been hobbled since customs officials seized car shells and other components at the Port of Philadelphia in May [see “U.S. railcar builder hit …,” July 1, 2025]. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents took the action because of charges those items included materials produced by child laborers or forced labor from China’s Uyghur ethnic minority, in violation of a 2021 U.S. law. At that time, CRRC MA said its plant had enough materials on hand to continue production through the end of 2025.

MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said in a statement to the Republican that the transit agency is “laser-focused” on answering the remaining customs questions, and CRRC’s legal counsel has submitted more than 2,000 digital files — the equivalent of 100,000 or more pages of material — to address the issue. Eng said the MBTA remains “confident that car shipments will be allowed to resume.”

— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.