Indonesia Eyes Exporting Passenger Trains to Chicago, United States
Indonesia has the potential to export passenger trains manufactured by a state-owned company to Chicago, the United States, a state envoy stated in a press release made available to ANTARA here on Wednesday.
“There is potential for Indonesia to sell passenger trains to the Chicago Transit Authority,” Indonesian Consul General Rosmalawati Chalid noted after meeting with Carole Morey, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) chief planning officer, and Michael Connelly, the CTA vice president scheduling and service planning, on Mar 5.
The meeting was initiated by the Indonesian consul general in Chicago to facilitate Indonesian trains to foray into the US market.
The CTA is a transportation company that operates rapid transit system for Chicago and its nearby areas called “The Chicago L” that has elevated and underground railways.
At the meeting, the CTA highlighted its needs to provide thousands of new passenger trains in the next five years in order to expand its route to northern and southern Chicago, which have been developed as business and housing areas.
Besides this, the CTA is planning to modernize its train fleet that has been used for over three decades on an average.
“I hope the trains manufactured by PT INKA would penetrate the US market and be used for CTA`s modernization,” Chalid noted.
PT INKA, an Indonesian state-owned train manufacturer, had exported thousands of passenger trains to Bangladesh.
The current passenger trains of CTA were produced by a Canadian company Bombardier, and the United States is widely known to be manufacturing its own trains.
However, Chalid noted that the Chinese CRRC Corp will offer competition to Indonesia, as it has already won the bidding to supply passenger trains valued at US$1.309 billion for CTA`s train modernization in 2016.
The Chinese company has also invested $100 million for building a railroad factory in Chicago that will cover the Boston and San Francisco market.
“Marketing in the US must go through the bidding process, with specific product requirements set by the United States. Moreover, each state has different specifications, such as the trains that are operated in Washington D.C., Boston, and Chicago,” she noted.
Courtesy : AntaraNews.Com, Capital FM Kenya
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