MBTA/Public takes a huge loss on faulty commuter rail ties

[The Straight Story]

MBTA takes a huge loss on faulty commuter rail ties
Quincy MA

The MBTA has agreed to accept just $6 million in cash and IOUs to settle its $91.5 million suit against the manufacturer of defective concrete railroad ties that had to be ripped out and replaced along the Old Colony Commuter Rail line.

The settlement ends the T’s suit against Rocla Concrete Ties of Denver but results in taxpayers picking up the bulk of the cost for repair work for nearly 150,000 concrete ties that began crumbling and breaking in less than a decade rather than the 50 years they were touted to last.

The settlement, which came just days before the case was set for trial in federal court, is an indicator that Rocla was holding all the cards. MBTA officials had insisted the ties were purchased with a 15-year warranty effective from when the commuter trains went into service in 1997. Rocla officials countered that they had negotiated a three-year guarantee covering only the cost of purchasing replacement ties, a maximum of $9 million. The settlement was $3 million less than Rocla claimed was its maximum liability and $85 million less than what the MBTA paid to replace the ties.

According to the settlement, Rocla paid $2 million Monday and agrees to pay $4 million in interest-free, semi-annual payments of $500,000 over the next four years. Rocla issued the T a $4 million letter of credit to guarantee the payments

“I’m borderline speechless,” said state Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, whose district includes many riders and miles of the Old Colony line. “The state got snookered. This thing cries out for some kind of investigation by the state auditor or the Inspector General’s Office. There has to be some kind of accountability here. This is ridiculous. The state got ripped off.”

http://www.patriotledger.com/mobile/x76458022/MBTA-takes-a-huge-loss-on-faulty-commuter-rail-ties

[valerief]

1. Yes, but rich people got richer and that's all that matters in the world. nt

[PoliticAverse]

2. Was the 'warranty' in writing?... n/t

[Angry Dragon]

3. Just corps doing business

no need for regulations, no need for oversight
I trust corps

[Javaman]

4. Before I even opened the post, I knew it had to be concrete ties.

they suck. Plain and simple.

this isn't an isolated incident, either.

they use the concrete ties to save on money, but time and time again, they fail.

They server their purpose as ties for exchanges and for stations but for long stretches, awful.