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ALEXANDRIA

To understand how this decision came about, there are a few things you should know.

First, VRE was required, by both federal and state law, to put the service contract "out to bid" under a competitive procurement process.

Second, the actual process by which the procurement was conducted is prescribed by Virginia law. The process involves a "request for proposals," which was issued last spring, with specific criteria identified for all bidders to respond to. The responses are then evaluated by a professional panel, which scores them based on their demonstrated responsiveness to the published evaluation criteria. The panel then conducted interviews with the top firms.

In this case, four firms submitted proposals (including Amtrak). VRE board members (as well as the chief executive officer) had no role in the actual review, until after the panel concluded its evaluation.

When the final results were presented to the VRE Operations Board, one firm outscored all others on every one of the evaluation criteria, by a very wide margin. That firm was Keolis. (Amtrak actually finished third.) Keolis also offered the lowest price to VRE--by $1 mil-lion a year.

Finally, Keolis offered to take on the existing employees, with comparable pay and benefits to that which they now enjoy, honor their seniority, and pay them each a signing bonus.

Under such circumstances, there really wasn't a "decision" for the VRE Operations Board or the commission to make: A properly executed procurement process, with one unambiguous winner on both quality and price, leaves little scope for discretion on the part of policymakers. As a result, it is hardly surprising that the VRE Operations Board and both commissions voted to support the award.

Keolis brings solid rail experience, with a U.S. management team that collectively has more than 90 years of experience working for American railroads. The maintenance team is made up of the two firms currently providing maintenance services for VRE.

In regard to safety, it is important to note that Federal Railroad Administration requirements are law. This means that every employee working on the VRE territory must qualify under FRA rules. Toward that end, Keolis will work with VRE's host railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern, and the FRA to implement safety plans and procedures that meet all FRA requirements. Keolis will not operate unless the FRA and the host railroads are satisfied that Keolis has met all safety and operational requirements prior to the start of operations on July 1, 2010.

In approving the contract award, the commissions and VRE Operations Board emphasized the importance of the employees who currently provide the service. An important component of this contract is the retention of the employees who provide service to VRE passengers every day. These men and women are instrumental in VRE's success and safety, and we hope that they will choose to stay with the VRE family.

Dale Zehner is chief executive officer, Virginia Railway Express.