BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority may return some of its older Orange Line trainsets to operation to address an equipment shortage as it continues to inspect and repair new equipment for the latest in a series of defects, Boston.com reports.
At least nine of the new Orange Line cars built in Massachusetts by an affiliate of China’s CRRC were removed from service in late December because of a power-cable problem that could lead to electrical arcing [see “MBTA sidelines some Orange Line equipment …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 31, 2022]. While cars have been repaired, workers continue to perform weekly inspections to find the source of the electrical problem, the MBTA wrote on its Twitter feed, and may return the old equipment to service as a backup plan.
As of the time of that Twitter message, the Orange Line was running one train short of the number needed to maintain a full schedule.
The new CRRC equipment for the Red and Orange lines has experienced a series of problems, leading the MBTA to blast the manufacturer for having “abandoned” its responsibilities to quality management in a letter sent before the latest issue, although it only became public afterward [see “MBTA letter blasts CRRC …,” News Wire, Jan. 5, 2023].
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