SPRINGFIELD -- Workers are making tracks at the massive CRRC rail car factory now under construction in East Springfield.
In addition to laying actual railroad tracks, they are installing electrical equipment and air handling systems, testing fire alarms, painting and putting the fixtures in the employee restrooms.
Next week, workers are scheduled to put in the prefabricated electrical substation that will power the 2,240-foot-long test track, said Joseph Maliszewski, project manager at the site for Plaza Construction.
That test track is in addition to long storage tracks where the finished cars will sit awaiting shipment and internal tracks for moving cars around the factory.
The third rail on the Springfield test track will be charged with 600 volts of DC electricity, same as the MBTA Red and Orange subways lines that will use the cars assembled and tested here in Springfield.
"It's coming together," Maliszewski said. "There are a lot of moving parts and there is much to be done. But everything is taking shape."
Construction began in April 2016.
Maliszewski thanked local contractors like Ludlow Construction, Universal Electric, B-G Mechanical and Marguerite Concrete. RailWorks railway construction contractors are building the tacks. Railworks has a regional office in Westfield.
There were 60 construction workers on the job last week, Maliszewski said. That's down from 120 or more at the height of work at the site.
Sometime in August, workers will install a massive transfer table in the floor of the factory building, allowing CRRC to move cars left and right between sets of internal tracks, Maliszewski said. Gantry cranes are already installed overhead.
CRRC, also known as CRRC Corporation Limited, plans a grand opening celebration at the plant in October or early November, with production on new MBTA subway cars to begin early in 2018, said spokeswoman Lydia M. Rivera.
Thirty-three local CRRC employees are in China now training for the jobs they'll have at the Springfield plant.
At 204,000 square feet, the $95 million factory at the old Westinghouse site in East Springfield is the largest industrial investment in greater Springfield in generations. The factory building is about 300 by 700 feet, with room inside for three and a half football fields.
CRRC built its factory here after receiving a $566 million contract in 2014 from the MBTA to manufacture 284 cars for the Red and Orange lines on Greater Boston's subway system.
The state went without federal funds in that deal, which allowed Massachusetts to require that the cars be assembled in the state. The requirement set off a competition among manufacturers and sites, with CRRC and the old Westinghouse site along Interstate 291 in East Springfield winning out.
CRRC also renovated a former Westinghouse building on Page Boulevard into its offices. Westinghouse built here in 1915 and 4,500 employees by 1930. Westinghouse used the site for research, establishing radio station WBZ there in 1921 as America's first licensed commercial radio station
Springfield has a history with rail cars. Wason Manufacturing Co. in the North End was a leader in the industry from 1845 until the Great Depression killed the company.
With the MBTA project, the state's idea was to jump-start a transit and rail car industry here in Massachusetts.
So far, the state's strategy seems to be working out as CRRC pursues an aggressive growth plan. CRRC plans to boost overseas sales to $15 billion in U.S. dollars by 2020, according to state-run Chinese media.
In December the MBTA awarded CRRC another $277 million contract to build an additional 120 Red Line cars starting in 2022. This most recent MBTA deal includes an option to purchase 14 more cars.
CRRC will make cars for other cities as well in deals finalized after construction began.
Los Angeles: 64 new subway cars at a cost of $178.4 million, with an option for 218 more.
Philadelphia: CRRC's most recent deal is to build 45 double-decker train cars for SEPTA, Greater Philadelphia's transit system, for $137.5 million. Two-level cars like those SEPTA ordered are used by transit systems all over the country, including New Jersey Transit and the MBTA.
Chicago: CRRC is building a factory to supply cars to the transit system there.
New York City: CRRC is bidding on a contract to build 1,025 subway cars. If it gets the deal, CRRC would manufacture the cars at an assembly plant in Fort Edward, New York, near Glens Falls and a 130-mile drive from Springfield. The Fort Edward plant, if it happens, would mean more work for the Springfield plant, where some components would be made.
Atlanta: CRRC executives have said officials from the city's MARTA transit system have already toured the Springfield factory with an eye toward buying cars from Springfield as well.
At the Springfield plant, car shells manufactured in China will arrive at the Stevens Street side of the building. Once inside, workers will finish them, installing wheel assemblies called bogies, as well as electronics, control systems, motors and interiors.
At the end of the process, CRRC will use a giant shower to test each car and make sure it is weathertight, Maliszewski said.
CRRC has built up its workforce to 90 employees, Rivera said. That's on its way to more than 150 permanent hires. CRRC said production jobs will pay $55,000 to $60,000 a year.