Newly designed CTA rail cars to be assembled at former Pullman-Standard plant

CTA Series 7000. Photo courtesy of transportationdesigners.com

A Chinese company Wednesday won a $1.3 billion contract for the largest rail car order in CTA history — rail cars that will feature fewer of the inward-facing seats that have raised howls from customers.

Only 47 percent of seats will face the aisles in the new Series 7000 cars that are expected to start debuting in 2020 and replace half the current fleet. That compares to 89 percent in the CTA’s last rail car order — for Series 5000 cars. Their interior, similar to those of some New York City subway cars, was often compared to a “bowling alley.”

The deal for the next generation of CTA rail cars included a pledge that the winner of the bid — CSR Sifang America JV -— would create a final rail assembly plant in Chicago that would employ 169 skilled assembly line and management workers…Please click here to read Rosalind Rossi’s story in the Sun-Times.