A company accused of using forced labour is still supplying parts for new Melbourne trains.

Chinese firm KTK Group provides parts to major manufacturers engaged by Victoria for its multi-billion-dollar train upgrade program.

The company has been shown to employ Uyghurs - a targeted Chinese ethnic and religious minority group - through a government aid program. 

In a report last year, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) listed major train manufacturers among dozens of companies using suppliers that have links to forced Uyghur labour.

Other reports have found that around 100,000 Uyghurs have been moved out of Xinjiang province to work in factories across China since 2017.

KTK Group supplies parts for the Evolution Rail group, which is building Melbourne’s new High-Capacity Metro Trains (HCMTs), as well as other rail manufacturers Alstom and Bombardier. 

Since those reports, the Victorian Government has looked at other options, but it now appears that changing suppliers would cost too much and cause delays.

“There is potential for DoT [Department of Transport] to direct manufacturers to seek alternative suppliers for KTK Group manufactured components, however this is likely to create delays and costs which would be passed on to the State,” an official document states. 

The state has also accepted claims from the companies involved that they are not relying on forced labour. 

“Alstom, Bombardier and Evolution Rail have provided formal responses indicating that they are not aware of any use of forced labour within their supply chain.

“The KTK Group denies the allegation of forced labour and has confirmed with CRRC that its labour employment complies with national labour laws, and that it does not employ any forced Uyghur workers,” the Department of Transport document says.

“Evolution Rail confirmed that it is updating its policies to ensure it complies with the requirements of relevant legislation such as the Modern Slavery Act 2018, including the requirement of Evolution Rail to provide mandatory statutory reporting on its supply chain from June 2021.”

New South Wales and Queensland have both used KTK Group and Evolution Rail in the past.