The first of the new MBTA Orange Line trains are being tested.
MBTA CEO and General Manager Luis Manuel Ramirez tweeted video of the car put to dynamic testing on the Orange Line test track on Monday morning.
The first new @MBTA Orange Line vehicle has been put in to dynamic testing. Here it is on the Orange Line Test Track. While we still have a ways to go before it's service ready, this is a major step toward upgrading our OL fleet. pic.twitter.com/PEb0I7Qdzo
— Luis Manuel Ramírez (@LMRAMIREZCEO) April 9, 2018
A Chinese company, CRRC, designed and produced the trains. Six were made in China and the company planned to build the others at a factory in Springfield.
>>PREVIOUS: MBTA unveils new Orange Line prototype
The cars could be going into service in January 2019 to replace the existing Orange Line cars that are decades old.
CRRC was awarded a $566 million contract in 2014 to design and manufacture new Orange and Red Line vehicles. The contract initially included the purchase of 152 new Orange Line vehicles and 132 new Red Line vehicles. According to MassDOT, an additional 120 Red Line vehicles were ordered in December 2016 in order to have the entire Red Line fleet completely replaced.
Full rail car production at the new Springfield plant is expected to begin in April 2018 with the first production cars completed in January 2019.
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