The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation says it is confident that Ansaldo Honolulu will carry out a city contract to build rail cars and operate the transit system.

Ansaldo Honolulu was selected in March for a $1.45 billion contract to design, build, operate and maintain the rail cars for the city’s $5.17 billion rail project. Months of protests and legal challenges from the losing bidders followed, as did news that the contractor’s parent company had plans to restructure or sell the business.

"Please be assured, HART will not be asleep at the wheel during contract performance," interim Executive Director Toru Hamayasu said Thursday at a HART board meeting.

Ansald is a joint venture of two companies under Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica.

Other cities reported having problems in their contracts with Ansaldo, including delays in receiving rail cars. Finmeccanica Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe Orsi mentioned the problems during a presentation in July and said Ansaldo would be either restructured or sold.

But Finmeccanica executives, including Orsi, have assured HART’s board of directors that Ansaldo will maintain its contractual obligations regardless of any change in ownership.

Hamayasu said Ansaldo has arranged to secure $360 million in performance and payment bonds, which will be given to the city once the contract is executed.

Losing bidders Bombardier Transportation and Sumitomo Corp. of America have tried to stop the contract. Both companies protested to the city and the state Office of Administrative Hearings, only to be denied. Bombardier sued the city but the case was dismissed.

Thursday, Sumitomo Vice President Gino Antoniello submitted a letter to HART board members asking them to reconsider the Ansaldo contract. Antoniello said that because the request for proposal doesn’t require Finmeccanica to legally guarantee the contract, Ansaldo must be evaluated on its own merit.

Antoniello pointed to a Moody’s report that both downgraded Finmeccanica’s financial standing and claimed the conglomerate’s "standalone credit quality has also deteriorated." He stated Sumitomo is still committed to working with the city on the rail project.

"Significant and material changes have occurred since the notice of award of the contract to Ansaldo," Antoniello said. "Those changes suggest that a basis for the award no longer exists."