Maryland's commuter rail service is about to go double-decker.
Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. of Yonkers, N.Y., was conditionally granted an $81.1 million contract by the state yesterday to produce 50 bi-level cars for the Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) system.
The contract represents the largest expansion of the MARC fleet ever. Assuming the Kawasaki cars are gradually put into operation in 1997 as expected, they will be the first two-story coaches to run on MARC tracks.
"This is really a turning point for MARC . . . a pre-eminent mode of transportation in Maryland," said John A. Agro Jr., head of the Mass Transit Administration, which oversees MARC.
"When people see these bi-level cars hauling into Camden Station, it's going to say something about
our service, about the MTA and about the city."
The Board of Public Works approved the contract yesterday on the condition that the cars be assembled in Maryland. The stipulation was added at the urging of Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, one of three board members.
The issue, Mr. Goldstein said, was whether the lucrative contract would benefit the local economy.
The last 35 MARC cars purchased by the state were made by Sumitomo Corp. but assembled in a former airplane hangar across from Martin State Airport in Middle River. The process lasted three years and resulted in about 50 jobs.
"We have a responsibility to make sure the parts are assembled here in Maryland," Mr. Goldstein said.
Kawasaki Rail Car is a subsidiary of Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Under the company's proposal, only the cars' exterior shells would be fabricated in Japan. The remainder of the parts would be U.S.-made, about 63 percent of the car.
Koyo Kondo, senior marketing manager for Kawasaki Rail Car, said company officials have been offered use of the Middle River assembly site. In contracts with other cities, the cars have sometimes been assembled locally, but not always.
"It's been decided contract by contract," Mr. Kondo said. "We are considering it."
Kawasaki has supplied more than 1,000 rail cars to the U.S. market, including subway cars for New York and Philadelphia and bi-level cars for Boston's commuter rail system. The Boston car served as a model for the MARC design.
The company beat out three competitors to win the contract with a bid that was $12.6 million lower than that of its closest competitor, Sumitomo. The lowest bid from a U.S.-based company was the $96.3 million offered by Morrison Knudsen Corp. of Boise, Idaho.
