Mayor Peter Carlisle today announced the awarding of two rail transit contracts worth a total of $946 million.

Ansaldo Honolulu was the winning bidder of a $574 million contract. Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. won a $372 million contract.

Ansaldo Honolulu, a joint venture of Ansaldo STS and Ansaldo Breda, will build the rail project’s “core systems,” which consists of the train vehicles and system control center, the city said in a news release.

Kiewit Infrastructure West Co.’s contract is for design and construction of the second phase of the rail elevated guideway from Pearl City to Aloha Stadium.
 These latest contracts represent a net savings of $165 million from the current project estimates, the city said.

“Not only are we creating much-needed jobs with these and other rail contracts, but we are also saving taxpayers’ money by making the most of the competitive bids coming in for the project,” Carlisle said in the news release. “This process reinforces the city’s commitment to ensure the rail project comes in on time and on budget.”

The city said it has saved more than $300 million in construction costs on the four construction contracts awarded to date. Previous construction contracts include the contract to Kiewit for the first 6.5-mile phase of the elevated rail guideway from East Kapolei to Pearl City and the contract for the train maintenance and storage facility in Waipahu, which was awarded to the joint venture of Kiewit/Kobayashi.

The $5.5 billion transit project is a 20-mile elevated rail system connecting East Kapolei with Ala Moana Center.

Train service for the first leg of the transit route from East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium is scheduled to begin in 2015, with full service along the entire 20-mile route from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center in 2019.