First Group Of Employees Hired To Build New Railcars For Chicago Transit Authority

A celebratory press conference was recently held at the CRRC Sifang America manufacturing facility to acknowledge the first day of work for 70 employees who will be responsible for building over 400 new railcars for the Chicago Transit Authority. Photo Credit: Brooke Collins/ City of Chicago
A celebratory press conference was recently held at the CRRC Sifang America manufacturing facility to acknowledge the first day of work for 70 employees who will be responsible for building over 400 new railcars for the Chicago Transit Authority. Photo Credit: Brooke Collins/ City of Chicago

First Group Of Employees Hired To Build New Railcars For Chicago Transit Authority

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

A press conference was recently held to celebrate the hiring of over 70 employees at the new CRRC Sifang America manufacturing facility in Hegewisch. These employees will be tasked with building new railcars for the Chicago Transit Authority.

“I am proud to stand before you as a lifelong Chicago resident and represent the group of CRRC union employees to start this journey,” said Perry Nobles, newly hired employee at CRRC Sifang America.

“Next week, along with 20 other new union employees, I will be traveling to China for extensive railcar manufacturing training.”

Nobles, along with several of his colleagues will be traveling to China to participate in highly specialized training that he will then bring back to the Chicago facility and use to train other employees as they build the new railcars.

“I am very excited not only to experience the culture in China but also for the learning experiences that I can bring back to Chicago and use to train the other union employees. Today is my first day at CRRC and moving forward I will be part of a team assembling the next generation of railcars

for the Chicago Transit Authority and millions of Chicago residents and visitors alike,” said Nobles.

These new railcars are the first to be added to the Chicago Transit Authority’s fleet since 2006. Production will begin with 400 railcars with a possibility of ordering 400 more all of which will replace current railcars that are more than 30 years old.

“We are excited to have hired the initial group of union production workers who will assemble the next generation of railcars for the Chicago Transit Authority,” said

Chengyong Liu, president of CRRC Sifang America “As we complete the new Chicago facility, our newly hired workers will be training in preparation to build the first 10 prototypes of the new 7000 Series railcars to be delivered later this year.”

These new railcars will be the first Chicago Transit Authority vehicles made in Chicago since 1964. The new railcars will feature security cameras inside and outside the vehicle, and GPS-triggered announcements, automatic passenger counting, and a smoother and more quiet ride, according to information provided at the press conference.

“This new facility reinforces our ongoing commitment toward ensuring our transit customers have a reliable and comfortable experience on our vehicles,” said Dorval R. Carter, Jr., president of the Chicago Transit Authority. “Once completed, these 7000-series rail cars will provide transit users with a more modern, more convenient and overall enhanced commuting experience.”

This is just the first round of hiring for CRRC Sifang America. When all is said and done, there will be about 170 employees working at the facility.

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