EIGHT RED LINE train cars shipped to the US from China are being detained at the Port of Philadelphia, raising concerns about whether the MBTA’s long-running effort to replace its aging subway fleet will encounter additional delays.
The MBTA and a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts subsidiary of CRRC, the Chinese rail car manufacturer, confirmed eight vehicles have been held up in Philadelphia by US Customs and Border Protection since May. Officials with the T said CRRC has already responded to two information requests about the subway vehicles from US Customs and is currently working on a third.
MBTA officials said US Customs is trying to verify CRRC is complying with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a US law prohibiting the importation of goods into the country that were produced using forced labor, particularly in a region in the northwest of China called Xinjiang. The MBTA said CRRC has told the agency that allegations of non-compliance with the law are unfounded, and the T said an audit by the transit authority substantiated that claim.
CRRC’s local spokeswoman, Lydia Rivera, provided no details on the discussions between CRRC and US Customs, but said to her knowledge the discussions had nothing to do with the tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by the Trump administration. “I don’t believe it’s related to tariffs,” she said.
US Customs did not immediately respond to an emailed request for information.
For years, CRRC has been shipping Orange and Red Line subway vehicle shells from its main plant in China to its Massachusetts facility in Springfield, where final assembly takes place. Officials said there have been few holdups on deliveries from China in the past.
Relations between China and the US have become tense under President Trump, with his administration slapping hefty tariffs on Chinese goods earlier this year and China responding in kind with US products. Tariff rates among the two countries have ranged as high as 145 percent, but current tariff levels reportedly exceed 30 percent.
The MBTA has been relying on a long-running contract with CRRC to update its old subway fleet. CRRC has delivered 146 of the 152 new Orange Line cars the T ordered, but the transit authority desperately needs new Red Line cars. Forty-eight of the 252 new Red Line cars have been delivered, according to the T, which means the bulk of the Red Line fleet is running with subway cars that are 55, 37, and 31 years old, even though the useful life of a subway vehicle is typically 30 to 31 years.
In March 2024, after nearly a year of negotiations, the MBTA and CRRC Massachusetts struck a deal to get the delivery of vehicles back on track. The T waived $90.6 million in penalties for previous late deliveries and agreed to waive $40 million in additional penalties if CRRC adhered to a new timetable calling for all of the new Red Line cars to be delivered by the end of 2027, which was still four years later than the original contract’s deadline.
The MBTA also agreed to pay CRRC $148 million more to cover unexpected cost increases brought about by the pandemic and previous tariffs imposed by the US government.
Rivera, the CRRC spokeswoman, said new tariffs are currently being assessed on the company, but she said there has been no discussion yet with the T about how the added costs will be absorbed. She had no details on the size of the company’s tariff bill.
Under CRRC’s updated contract with the MBTA, T officials say deliveries of new vehicles have picked up and quality has improved. “The MBTA is very proud of the plant’s workforce, which continues to successfully produce high-quality rail cars here in Massachusetts,” the T said in a statement on Tuesday.
But the holdup in Philadelphia could throw a wrench in production schedules if the subway vehicles continue to be detained. “There are enough car shells and related components at the [Springfield] plant to keep the production line moving at least through the end of this year,” the T said in its statement. “What – if any – impacts this current issue has on the future delivery schedule is not immediately clear, but the MBTA and its contractor are committed to finding a resolution that allows production to continue well past this year.”