German-U.S. Team to Build Green Line Cars : Transportation: Siemens is awarded $205-million contract after vowing to create jobs and open L.A. plant. Meanwhile, the MTA ponders ways to solve its budget problems.

Awarding one of the largest transit contracts of the decade, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials Wednesday granted a $205-million contract to a German-U.S. team that promises to create local jobs building cars for the 20-mile Green Line.

The action occurred as the MTA board deliberated and again postponed other key decisions about its budget and transportation planning.

In his first brush with transit bureaucracy, Mayor Richard Riordan offered fresh hope to proponents of a San Fernando Valley line that had once appeared to be delayed by as much as a decade because of budget constraints.

“I don’t want to see anything done today that gets in the way of a Valley line,” Riordan said before the meeting.

With the MTA facing a $258-million shortfall, the agency lacks the funds to construct all that it once promised and board members have been forced to choose among rail lines. In recent weeks, MTA officials have tried to figure out how to fund three rail lines: Pasadena, the Green Line (to run between Norwalk and El Segundo) and the San Fernando Valley line.

Under the most recent budget proposals, officials had found ways to solve a $414-million shortfall for the Green Line, which is expected to cost more than $700 million, and to start up the Pasadena line. But they concluded that the proposed Valley line would have to wait.

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich pointed out that Riordan--a longtime champion of monorail in the Valley--significantly improved the odds of the Valley obtaining a line.

“We are working to have the San Fernando Valley stay on course,” Antonovich said. “We have stronger representation for San Fernando Valley as a result of Mayor Riordan’s election. (Former Mayor) Tom Bradley was wedded to a costly subway project--not to the Valley. We have increased our support.”

The board meeting Wednesday started 45 minutes late after Riordan and MTA chairman Richard Alatorre met in a conference room, apparently attempting to reach an agreement on the agency’s budget. That closed-door meeting, however, broke up shortly after Supervisor Gloria Molina, a board member, barged into the room, saying: “If you are going to change the (MTA board) meeting to another time, I’d be happy to announce it.”

Alatorre, who was first appointed to the board by Bradley, endorsed Riordan during the recent mayoral race and was reappointed to the MTA board by Riordan. In a unanimous vote, the board agreed to Riordan’s request to defer approval of a proposed $3.4-billion spending plan for one month. This action quashed Alatorre’s hopes of offering a spending plan that would have launched the Pasadena line, a project that he supports.

Although the MTA board members did not act on the $414-million shortfall facing the Green Line, they decided to proceed with the purchase of 72 trolley cars. The contract was awarded to Siemens Duewag Corp., which with several U.S. partners promised to create 244 California jobs, pump $20 million into the local economy and open a Los Angeles plant.

Siemens plans to open a facility to manufacture rail-car shells either in Long Beach or Carson, said Gunter Ernst, president of the company’s Sacramento facility. This promise tipped the scales heavily in favor of Siemens, MTA officials said.

Last month, MTA staff recommended that the contract be awarded to Siemens--an action that caused two of three competing firms to lodge protests. The decision to select Siemens became more controversial as the agency grappled with its budget shortfall and Siemens’ competitors pointed out that their bids were $18 million and $12 million less expensive than that of the German company.

The transit agency suffered embarrassment last year when it canceled a Green Line car contract to the Japan-based Sumitomo Corp. because of public outrage over giving so much business to a foreign company when so many American companies were reeling.

MTA board member Evan Anderson Braude, a Long Beach city councilman, said awarding the contract to Siemens would revitalize a region hard-hit by the recession.

“Not only will great jobs be here, but people will look to Los Angeles for advances in technology,” he said. “This is one major step.”

Moving Ahead on the Green Line Transit officials approved a $205-million contract to manufacture 72 trolley cars, soome of which will be used on the Green Line. The line, to run from Norwalk to south of LAX, is scheduled to open in May, 1995. Still undecided is an extension from the planned route to the airport. Here is the current route: Shuttle Buses to Bradley Terminal Destination: Aviation Station via Century Distance: 2.9 miles Time: 10 minutes Destination: Aviation Station via Sepulveda Distance: 2.8 miles Time: 8 minutes Destination: From Lot C (Existing) Distance: 1.3 miles Time: 4 minutes Destination: From Lot B (Existing) Distance: 2.8 miles Time: 8 minutes