BY CHRISTINE KRALY, Times of Northwest Indiana
ckraly@nwitimes.com
CHESTERTON | The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District has accepted a $47.6 million bid for its new fleet of double-decker cars for the South Shore line.
NICTD board members called an emergency meeting Friday to decide whether to accept its current bid, from Sumitomo Corporation of America, set to expire Feb. 26. The other option would have been to let it expire and further negotiate the individual car cost from its rate of $3.4 million per car, a rate higher than the group's target.
"We worked as hard as we could to get the price down," said Gerald Hanas, NICTD general manager. Officials had aimed to pay $3.1 million per car.
In accepting the current bid, NICTD has opted to save time, more so than possibly money.
If the board had voted to let the bid expire, and in turn pair its order with an expected one from Illinois' Metra later this year, delivery of NICTD's rail cars would possibly have been delayed until 2011. As now planned, NICTD's rail cars should be delivered in late 2008 and in service by early 2009.
NICTD asked Munster engineer Richard Curtis to research why NICTD's estimates are roughly 18 percent higher than a deal Metra inked with the company nearly five years ago.
Curtis cited a number of reasons for the higher tab, including inflation, NICTD's small fleet order and a number of modifications being made to new cars.
Nippon Sharyo of Japan will manufacture the cars, with assembly done at Super Steel near Milwaukee. Sumitomo is the Japanese trading company that orchestrated the deal.
NICTD's deal for 14 double-decker cars, including parts and labor, is estimated at more than $50 million, with $17.5 million expected to come from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. NICTD still is negotiating with the Indiana Department of Transportation on a $3 million contribution.
NICTD expects to have the necessary bond documents finalized for its next meeting on March 23.
All aboard
NICTD's 14-fleet of double-decker cars will include:
* a microphor toilet per car similar to those in existing cars
* walk-over seating enabling riders to adjust seat backs in either direction
* 233 seats per car
The cars are expected to increase capacity by roughly 15 percent.
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