Dutch, Belgians scrap train deals

After months of dealing with technical troubles, Belgian and Dutch railway operators have canceled their contract for high-speed trains from the company hired to provide the trains for the city’s planned rail transit system.

Italian train manufacturer AnsaldoBreda agreed to provide 19 V250 "Fyra" trains for a high-speed service between Amsterdam and Belgium. However, that service was suspended last winter just five weeks after it launched amid a host of weather-related problems with the nine Fyras that Ansaldo had delivered thus far.

On Friday, Belgium’s railway company, NMBS/SCNB, canceled its order for three Fyras, citing safety and reliability, according to international media reports. The Netherlands’ operator, Netherlands Railways, followed suit Monday and canceled its order for its seven remaining trains from Ansaldo.

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation CEO Dan Grabauskas is on a 10-day business trip that includes a stop in Belgium to assess the situation firsthand, HART officials said. "We want to ensure that (the Fyra problem) certainly doesn’t happen in Hono­lulu," HART Board Finance Chairman Don Hor­ner said Monday.

Grabauskas’ trip was planned several months ago, with the Belgium leg scheduled when reports of the problems with the Fyra trains there first surfaced, Horner said. The trip also includes stops in Italy and Copenhagen, which uses a driverless system similar to the trains that will run in Hono­lulu, Hor­ner said.

The 40 two-car trains Ansaldo is producing for Hono­lulu’s planned elevated 20-mile system are of an entirely different model from the Fyras. They won’t be high-speed and won’t have to run in cold weather. According to Reuters, the European operators complained of doors coming loose, parts falling off due to ice and warning horns blocked with snow.

However, the operators also flagged basic design flaws such as brakes unsuitable for high speed. Enrico Fontana, project manager and managing director for Ansaldo Hono­lulu JV, did not return a call for comment on AnsaldoBreda’s most recent problems and whether Hono­lulu’s trains might eventually face similar concerns.

AnsaldoBreda and Ansaldo STS comprise Ansaldo Hono­lulu JV. The joint venture received an unprecedented $1.4 billion contract to design, build, operate and maintain the city’s system. Ansaldo STS builds train control and operating systems and makes money — including a $98 million net profit in 2012. AnsaldoBreda, meanwhile, makes rail cars and has been losing money for years, including a $912 million loss in 2011.

AnsaldoBreda has previously had trouble delivering trains on time in Los Angeles and according to specifications, though company executives said the problems occurred when the LA transit agency underwent management changes.

Italian defense conglomerate Finmeccanica, which owns or partly owns the two Ansaldo companies, has endured heavy losses, credit downgrades and legal troubles during the past two years. Finmeccanica’s chief executive, Alessandro Pansa, told shareholders last week he expects the firm will be profitable again in 2013.

Executives at AnsaldoBreda and Ansaldo STS assured the HART board in March that they had the financial muscle to deliver the train system and its cars on time and within budget.

"The board remains confident in our executive management staff that they’re monitoring the contractor," Hor­ner said Monday.

Netherlands Railways has asked its legal experts to study all the ways the Dutch railway operator might recover the more than $156 million it has already paid AnsaldoBreda, Reuters reported.