South Korean rolling stock and electric bus manufacturer Woojin Industrial Systems will ship the first batch of refurbished LA Metro A650 railcars to the United States by the end of this year.
In May 2024, Woojin secured an exclusive contract with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) for the LA Metro A650 Railcar Refurbishment Project. The deal is valued at approximately $220 million (around 326.4 billion KRW).
This marks the first time a South Korean company has undertaken a comprehensive overhaul project for aging railcars overseas--a task widely regarded as more technically demanding and intricate than building new rolling stock from scratch. Proving the complexity of the project, a European manufacturer that signed a refurbishment contract for the same A650 railcars back in 2016 ultimately failed to deliver, leaving the project stranded for six years.
Industry analysts attribute Woojin's successful bid to its proven track record in the U.S. transit market. The company had previously demonstrated its specialized overhaul capabilities through projects such as the auxiliary power system modernization for the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) SD160 light rail vehicles.
To optimize efficiency, Woojin is employing a dual-track operational strategy that bridges its facilities in South Korea and the United States. The initial batch of four refurbished trainsets is currently undergoing rigorous track testing at the Osong Railway Test Line in South Korea. Following these domestic trials, they will be shipped to the U.S. later this year for further field testing.
The remaining 33 trainsets will undergo component replacement and assembly at Woojin's recently completed manufacturing plant in Carson, California. The overhaul will involve replacing critical electronics and subsystems, including propulsion control systems, train control and monitoring systems (TCMS), heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units, and passenger public address (PA) and information displays.
This dual-track approach is strategically designed to ensure the quality of the initial batch while establishing a robust localized production system capable of capturing future orders in the North American market.
Once fully validated, the modernized fleet is scheduled to enter revenue service in time for the opening of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Woojin expects this high-profile deployment to significantly elevate the global competitiveness of South Korean rail technology.
“The LA Metro A650 modernization is a massive, comprehensive project that encompasses everything from exterior repainting and interior structural retrofitting to designing core electronic systems like propulsion, auxiliary power, and train control,” a Woojin official stated. “We plan to use this milestone project as a springboard to aggressively expand our footprint in the global transit market.”
