Wow... so the T chose to save $30 million on an almost $200 mil contract to:

1. go with Hyundai Rotem, who has not yet built a plant to accomplish this work, and
'acknowledged that the company was on a tight schedule. "But within our experience earlier - in different markets or different projects - it could be a quite achievable target schedule".'

2. pass over 'more established competitors like Kawasaki, the Japanese company that has built rail cars for the MBTA and many of the nation's largest transit agencies for two decades.' and who 'did not file a formal protest because Kawasaki wanted to preserve its relationship with the T. Still, he acknowledged that Kawasaki could not match Rotem's low price.'

What could go wrong?

I think it was a wise decision to go with Hyundai Rotem. I'm sure that if the T had went with Kawasaki, it would have been vilified for "splurging" $30 million extra on an "old, favored business partner" "joined at the hip" to the T. Especially when its only competitor bid $30 million less and has a "strong worldwide reputation."

Also consider the facts that General Manager Grabauskas has stated that "the MBTA is more than satisfied with the contractor's level of responsiveness and diligence to this point," that Director of Vehicle Engineering McGann has said that "the T is pleased with Rotem's progress with its factory and satisfied with the company's progress on its other two contracts," and that Metrolink and SEPTA officials say they are "pleased with Rotem."

Rotem is not AnsaldoBreda, and unless "guilty until proven innocent" is the new standard for judging in America, it is probably premature, in my humble opinion, to claim that Rotem will deliver as poorly as Breda did.

Raising the various woes of Ford, GM, and Chevrolet also seems to be a red herring fallacy.

Finally, but not lastly, attempting to compare the MBTA, a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to a private corporation is a fundamentally flawed analogy. Similarly, attempting to draw parallels between Rotem, a company with a "strong worldwide reputation," and a hypothetical Bulgarian steam pipe manufacturer is also absurd.

From the Globe article, it sounds like the vendor is already hedging their commitment: "Hyung Wook Kim, president of Hyundai Rotem USA (said) 'it could be a quite achievable target schedule.' " Not is, not even should be, but could be? That's scary right there.

And then this odd disconnect: "Officials at Metrolink and SEPTA said they expect delivery of their trains about six months later than first promised." But "Kim said the delays would be no more than three months in either city." Presumably LA and Philly originally got their six-month estimate from Rotem, so which is it, three, six, or mmm... who knows when, what with the MBTA project and all?

I dunno, I really want to see the T succeed with important and expensive projects like this, but this one sounds hinky before it's even begun. Let's re-visit this thread in the spring and see whose story looks closer to reality.

Loved those cars, especially the originals with, what I called as a kid, the "death doors." Plus, the quirky sound they made when they started and stopped.

Long live the R40 Slants!