Latest news with #PhilEng
Boston Globe
28-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Why is the Trump administration really holding up MBTA train shells?
The company strongly denies any wrongdoing and MBTA general manager Phil Eng says But the incident is another setback for a star-crossed project that's been hampered by delays, cost overruns, a pandemic, and geopolitical tensions. Advertisement Massachusetts picked the Chinese company back in 2014 because it offered the low bid and promised to assemble the trains in Springfield with shells shipped from China. To then-governor Deval Patrick, the deal was a perfect two-fer, providing the T with bargain trains while creating several hundred blue-collar jobs in a part of the state that often feels overlooked by state transportation spending. For the company, meanwhile, the deal was supposed to be its entree into the American market. The company did Advertisement President Trump slapped tariffs on imported With that history, it's hard to take the slave labor concerns completely at face value. I don't mean to minimize the issue; obviously, if the company really did violate laws against importing slave-made products that would be a massive problem, and a reason for the state to bail on the contract immediately. But the way the administration and Congress have had it out for this company makes me wonder how genuine their concerns for its workers in China really are. The trains are now years beyond schedule. There's undoubtedly plenty of blame to go around for that, and I don't mean to let the company off the hook. But what if politicians hadn't spent so much energy trying to thwart CRRC? Why was the company that made something as socially useful as trains held to such a higher standard than ones making, say, smartphones? I get the concerns about Chinese dumping — ie, using artificially low prices to gain market share at the expense of American firms. China has been accused of anticompetitive behavior when it comes to solar panels and other goods. But the T's trains are being built by American workers, and with many American components. If US government pressure results in CRRC leaving the American market, the Chinese government will barely notice. But a lot of people in Springfield will. Advertisement This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter about the future of transportation in the region. Sign up to . Alan Wirzbicki is Globe deputy editor for editorials. He can be reached at
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
Not satisfied with South Coast Rail service? MBTA hosting public meeting in Fall River
FALL RIVER — Residents who have been unsatisfied with the MBTA's South Coast Rail service can take their complaints right to the top when MBTA General Manager Phil Eng hosts a meeting in Fall River on May 22. Eng and representatives from the MBTA and Keolis, the company contracted to run commuter rail service, will host the meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. at Morton Middle School, 1135 N. Main St. According to the MBTA, the meeting will address 'concerns occurring since service began on March 24, including noise, weekend service cancellations, Keolis staffing, and other service challenges.' The meeting is open the public. Text alerts: Worried about late or cancelled MBTA commuter trains? How to be prepared The South Coast Rail commuter rail extension was a $1 billion project decades in the making and long-delayed. The new Fall River/New Bedford Line has been plagued by almost daily delays five to 20 minutes, or longer in extreme cases. Shortly after its rollout, weekend service faced multiple cancellations due to a lack of trained staff, inconveniencing riders for hours. Some weekend trains have been replaced by shuttle buses. Other residents have noise complaints due to idling trains and at road crossings. Free weekend service, originally set to last through April as a way to tempt riders into making the service a habit, has been extended until June as an apology for substandard service. Rides to and from any of the six South Coast Rail stations — Fall River Depot, Freetown, East Taunton, Middleborough, Church Street and New Bedford — are currently free through June 1. Parking at those stations is also free. This article originally appeared on The Herald News: MBTA to hear commuter rail complaints at public meeting in Fall River
