New trains still on track; manufacturer builds scale model of an Orange Line car

MBTA officials recently told the T's Financial Control Board that work to get long suffering Red and Orange Line riders into new cars is currently on schedule - with the first new Orange Line to go into service in, well, early 2019.

The T is expected to take delivery of a mock-up car for review in January, with the first actual running test car sent our way in December of 2018. It will then go on the rails for several months of testing before its doors are first opened to the public. The first test Red Line train is expected to come a year later and also undergo several months of testing.

After that, the T will get roughly four new cars a month for each line until all are delivered and in service by the end of 2022.

CRRC, a Chinese rail-car manufacturer, will be assembling 152 Orange Line cars and 132 Red Line cars in a factory in Springfield. The T is spending $729 million on the new cars.

Ooh: Shiny, slidey seats like on the Blue Line in this Orange Line mockup:

Shiny computer simulation of a new Red Line car:

H/t Tim Lawrence, who posted copies of the relevant documents.