The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in the US has removed 40 Bombardier 5000-series rail cars from service after CTA inspectors identified "a small number of manufacturing quality issues" on car parts.
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In a statement the CTA said that the 40 new railcars, which operate along the Pink Line, have been taken out of service as a precaution while the CTA and officials from the railcar manufacturer Bombardier Transit further study the issue.
CTA president Forrest Claypool said, "This decision demonstrates an abundance of caution on our part as we work with Bombardier to address these issues."
In late November, CTA inspectors working at Bombardier’s Plattsburgh plant identified a flaw in the quality of a casting used to create wheel bearing housings.
The casting was later replaced and no further issues were detected; however, this week CTA inspectors detected a second quality issue with a casting at the Plattsburgh facility.
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By GlobalDataBombardier Transportation spokesperson Maryanne Roberts told montrealgazette.com that the issue was "a surface blemish or a surface imperfection" that was detected on the assembly line at Bombardier’s factory in Plattsburgh, New York.
The parts are undergoing rigorous testing and, as a precautionary measure, CTA has decided to pull the 5000-series cars out of service until further scrutiny has been undertaken.
In addition to the Plattsburgh plant, inspection will also be conducted on all of the 52 railcars already delivered to Chicago to determine if any further testing is needed, CTA said.
CTA ordered 706 rail cars in 2006 including an option for $933m, and tested the cars in 2010 and 2011.
The 5000-series rail cars were deployed in service on the Pink Line in November 2011, replacing CTA’s older railcars, which are between 32 and 42 years old.
Bombardier has so far delivered 52 cars and the remaining cars are planned to be delivered by 2014.
Caption: Chicago Transit Authority has taken 40 Bombardier 5000-series railcars out of service after finding quality issues in the manufacturing process.
