Chinese MTA 'Genius' Firm Needs Federal Probe, Schumer Says

NEW YORK — This firm might be an evil genius. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants the federal government to investigate whether a Chinese firm could leave the MTA and other mass transit agencies vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The MTA named CRRC, a train car manufacturer owned by the Chinese state, one of the winners of its Genius Transit Challenge last year for its pledge to design the New York City subway's "car of the future."

But Schumer, the Senate's top-ranking Democrat, worries the company's technology could pose a threat given the United States's trade battle with China and previous cyberattacks against transportation infrastructure. He called on the U.S. Department of Commerce to examine any work or proposals CRRC does for the subway system.

"This kind of national security responsibility is just so big, and so complex, that the MTA and other big-city transit systems should not have to foot the burden of going at it alone to assess whether or not CRRC’s low bids for work, and current contracts across the country, are part of some larger strategy," Schumer said in a statement Sunday.

CRRC promised last year to invest $50 million of its own money into designing the city's next generation of subway cars, which would have charging ports, WiFi and high-tech screens as well as modern train control technology.

While the MTA awarded the firm $330,000 as part of its genius challenge, the agency said it has purchased no products from CRRC and that there are none of the firm's cars in its sytem. But CRRC has won contracts to build cars for other big cities such as Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago, Schumer's office said.

Schumer's office pointed to the Trump administration's move last week to bar American companies from using equipment, made by foreign firms, that could pose a security threat. The order essentially bans sales by Huawei, a Chinese company that the Commerce Department also designated as a national security risk, according to The New York Times.

"Given what we know about how cyberwarfare works, and recent attacks that have hit transportation and infrastructure hubs across the country, the Department of Commerce must give the green light and thoroughly check any proposals or work China’s CRRC does on behalf of the New York subway system, including our signals, Wi-Fi and more," Schumer said.

But the MTA says last year's award to CRRC did not give the company a contract or an advantage in seeking work with the transit agency.

"The MTA has robust, multilayered and vigorously enforced safety and security standards, but we support efforts of government agencies to bolster that work," Maxwell Young, the MTA's chief external affairs officer, said in a statement.