Ansaldo Honolulu JV signed a $1.4 billion contract with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation for 80 rail cars on Monday.
The contract, which underwent nine months of public scrutiny, calls for the Italian-based rail car company to deliver the first 16 vehicles to the city by 2014, and the rest to arrive by 2018.
The decision comes after the rail agency's board questioned the chief executive officer of Ansaldo STS, the operations arm of Ansaldo Honolulu.
"We have strong safeguards in bonds and guarantees to protect us," said Toru Hamayasu, interim executive director for HART. "But more importantly, I believe we selected a responsible contractor with a solid commitment to delivering a world-class system for Honolulu."
Ansaldo Honolulu was beset by scrutiny since the city announced its intent to award the contract in March.
Reports emerged from other U.S. cities that worked with Ansaldo about late deliveries and cars that didn't meet specifications, particularly in Los Angeles.
The two losing bidders of the contract, Bombardier Transportation and Sumitomo Corp. of America, protested to the city, then to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
Bombardier Transportation still has a case in Hawaii appellate court and has filed an appeal with the Federal Transit Administration. The company argues that it was never warned it would be disqualified after changing some language on liability insurance in its bid. It also had the lowest price offered out of the three bids.
"We continue to believe that we were improperly disqualified," Bombardier Vice President Andrew Robbins said Monday. "The city would've been served to rebid the contract. We have the lowest price, and we have a far lower operations and maintenance price."
Subcontractors for Sumitomo were somewhat successful in their complaint with the state that Ansaldo did not have a contractor's license before the company bid for the contract. However, the state's only response was to issue a $150,000 fine against Ansaldo.
The contract signed with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) in the U.S. state of Hawaii is for a 32 kilometre long line, it said.
Design and construction is due to take eight years with the first stretch of track operated from 2015, it said. (Writing by Nigel Tutt)
The contract, which underwent nine months of public scrutiny, calls for the Italian-based rail car company to deliver the first 16 vehicles to the city by 2014, and the rest to arrive by 2018.
The decision comes after the rail agency's board questioned the chief executive officer of Ansaldo STS, the operations arm of Ansaldo Honolulu.
"We have strong safeguards in bonds and guarantees to protect us," said Toru Hamayasu, interim executive director for HART. "But more importantly, I believe we selected a responsible contractor with a solid commitment to delivering a world-class system for Honolulu."
Ansaldo Honolulu was beset by scrutiny since the city announced its intent to award the contract in March.
Reports emerged from other U.S. cities that worked with Ansaldo about late deliveries and cars that didn't meet specifications, particularly in Los Angeles.
The two losing bidders of the contract, Bombardier Transportation and Sumitomo Corp. of America, protested to the city, then to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
Bombardier Transportation still has a case in Hawaii appellate court and has filed an appeal with the Federal Transit Administration. The company argues that it was never warned it would be disqualified after changing some language on liability insurance in its bid. It also had the lowest price offered out of the three bids.
"We continue to believe that we were improperly disqualified," Bombardier Vice President Andrew Robbins said Monday. "The city would've been served to rebid the contract. We have the lowest price, and we have a far lower operations and maintenance price."
Subcontractors for Sumitomo were somewhat successful in their complaint with the state that Ansaldo did not have a contractor's license before the company bid for the contract. However, the state's only response was to issue a $150,000 fine against Ansaldo.
The contract signed with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) in the U.S. state of Hawaii is for a 32 kilometre long line, it said.
Design and construction is due to take eight years with the first stretch of track operated from 2015, it said. (Writing by Nigel Tutt)
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