Protest delays MTA decision on railway car contract.

Vote on the $200 million pact postponed to late July

The last-minute filing of a second protest last week delayed Metropolitan Transportation Authority action on awarding the coveted $200 million contract for design and manufacturing of at least 74 light rail cars.

The vote has been rescheduled for July 28.

Vying for the project are four aerospace/railcar company partnerships, three of which are locked in a tight contest.

The MTA staff has recommended the contract go to the partnership formed by Siemens Duewag Corp., TRW Inc. and AAI Corp., which scored 88 out of 100 possible points in the staff evaluation.

The partnership formed by Morrison-Knudsen and Hughes Aircraft scored 87, and the partnership between Bombardier Corp. and Northrop Corp. scored 86.

Morrison-Knudsen filed the first protest on June 22, and Bombardier filed its protest on June 29, the day before last week's MTA meeting.

Both bidders allege in their protests that Siemens should not have received points under a section for giving work to a U.S. company that has not been a rail industry supplier in the past. Siemens listed AAI Corp. for credit in this section, but the other bidders said AAI has been working in the domestic rail industry for years.

Both protests also allege that Siemens was given too many points for using minority- and women-owned businesses as subcontractors. In one case, Morrison-Knudsen alleges that Siemens listed a company that has been out of business for months.

Bombardier alleges that Siemens is wrong to claim that by opening a railcar shell manufacturing facility in Long Beach, AAI will be creating a new U.S. industry that will fill orders for companies all over the country.

Bombardier notes that not only does Morrison-Knudsen already have a shell-manufacturing facility in Chicago, but that almost all railcar shells are built by the companies who win the government contracts for delivery of the cars, so there would be no market for AAI's shells.

The protest from Bombardier also argues that there is no justification for Bombardier receiving the lowest score for technical ability. Bombardier has delivered more vehicles, including L.A. Metrolink cars, to U.S. transportation authorities than all three of the other bidders combined, the protest notes.

Morrison-Knudsen was the low bidder, with a price of $187.5 million. Bombardier bid $193 million, and Siemens bid $205.4 million.

Laurence Weldon, vice president of the Rail Construction Corp. vehicle acquisition project, said the $18 million more that Siemens is charging, compared to the low bidder, will pay for construction of the Long Beach plant, which would employ 74 local people.

"We tried to use this contract as a catalyst for development of light rail car manufacturing in the U.S.," said Gwendolyn Williams, manager of contracts for the RCC vehicle acquisition project.

Bombardier, for its part, says the $5.5 million difference between its bid and the low bid will pay for a railcar assembly plant in L.A. County that will employ 400 people.

Bombardier also is teamed with Northrop, a major L.A. County employer.

"The bottom line is it's the best deal for Los Angeles," Bombardier's marketing director Gary Hallman said of his company's proposal.

MTA Chief Executive Franklin White is opposed to the board going against the staff recommendation.

"It becomes a zoo ... if other conditions suddenly are brought in," White said at a June 28 board work session. "There's something to be said about certainty of procedure and our credibility."

The first 31 "L.A. Standard" cars built are slated for use on the yet-to-be-built Blue Line segment to Pasadena. Later cars would be used on the Green Line.