On Wednesday, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation issued a press release saying the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a city decision to disqualify one of the bidders seeking a lucrative rail contract.

That contract, worth $1.4 billion, went to Ansaldo Honolulu Joint Venture for rail cars, operating systems and operating and maintaining the trains after they’re up and running.

But two companies, Bombadier Transportation USA, Inc. and Sumitomo Corp., fought that decision. The state threw out Sumitomo’s appeal, and Bombadier’s made it to the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

“This latest decision reaffirms the fact that the procurement process was done
properly and in accordance with state law,” said HART executive director Dan Grabauskas. “The contract award was successfully upheld by three independent and separate reviews. It was upheld by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, by the state Circuit Court and now by the state Intermediate Court of Appeals. All of these extensive reviews underscored the validity of our procurement process.”

This is good news for HART and the city after the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the city should halt construction on the project because it didn’t properly account for Native Hawaiian burials before breaking ground on the project.

There’s still another decision pending in federal court on whether the city following certain laws while pursuing the rail project.

—Nick Grube