The company building the train cars for Oahu’s elevated rail line has agreed to a deal worth some $172 million to buy back the high-speed cars it built for Dutch railway operators.
A little over a year ago, technical troubles scrapped the cars from service between Amsterdam and Belgium.
Italian train manufacturer AnsaldoBreda’s agreement with Netherlands Railways comes after the Dutch rail operator and its Belgian counterpart, NMBS/SCNB, suspended service last winter on Ansaldo’s V250 "Fyra" trains. The stoppage came just five weeks after the first of 19 trains started running in the two countries amid a host of weather-related problems with the vehicles.
Months later the two nations’ rail operators canceled their contracts for the high-speed Fyras, with the Belgians citing safety and liability concerns.
With the new settlement, announced in late March, AnsaldoBreda officials say they and Netherlands Railways look to avoid a lengthy legal battle over the cancellation.
Ansaldo’s Italian parent company, Finmeccanica SpA, hinted the deal with the Dutch could also help the defense and aerospace firm in its ongoing bid to sell off AnsaldoBreda, which has been unprofitable in recent years, in a package deal with other rail-related holdings. Finmeccanica "welcomes the agreement, which represents a significant step forward in the definition of the risks of AnsaldoBreda," officials with the parent company said in a statement.
Nonetheless, AnsaldoBreda and the Belgian railway operator continue to disagree over the three Fyras that nation had ordered, European news outlets report.
AnsaldoBreda joined with Ansaldo STS to form Ansaldo Honolulu JV, a joint venture with an unprecedented $1.4 billion contract with the city to design, build, operate and maintain Oahu’s rail transit line. The first leg of the 20-mile, 21-station system is planned to start running in 2017.
Local officials with the firm say what’s happening with the Fyras in Europe doesn’t at all affect the city’s contract with Ansaldo.
"Honolulu’s system is entirely different," Ansaldo Honolulu JV project manager Enrico Fontana said in an email last week. "It is not a high-speed system and does not face the extreme weather issues seen elsewhere. Honolulu’s system will not face any of the operational issues experienced in the Netherlands.
"The issues in the Netherlands are completely unrelated to the Honolulu project, and Ansaldo Honolulu JV’s contract with the city of Honolulu is not impacted," Fontana added.
However, Ansaldo Honolulu JV and the city have their own disputes — including a disagreement dating to at least August 2012 over whether Ansaldo was required under contract to deliver a system with more flexible train car configurations.
Officials overseeing the local rail project eventually requested that Ansaldo deliver 20 four-car trains for the system, but earlier this year the two parties were about $25 million apart on the cost for that request.
