In a letter sent to VRE, Amtrak argues the commuter railway improperly scored Keolis, an international company headquartered in Paris, during the proposal review.

Each proposal is rated, or scored, on a 100-point scale.

Amtrak was ranked third in the proposal review process, behind Keolis and second-place Bombardier Mass Transit Corp.

Amtrak released a statement on the contract yesterday: "The VRE request for proposal was to be scored 80 percent on performance/experience, but the foreign-owned Keolis has no experience operating a railroad in the U.S. or under this country's strict rail safety and security regulations that are designed to protect the traveling public and the employees operating the trains." VRE countered that Amtrak's definition of performance and experience fails to take into account the scope of the evaluation.

"The [request for proposal] had nine elements that it looked at," said Mark Roeber, VRE's manager of government relations and public affairs.

One element was cost-related, and the other eight elements judged "the operation as a whole, whether it was safety, whether it was maintenance, whether it was insurance," Roeber said.

"Performance was one of those criteria, but it wasn't the totality of it," he said.

Two weeks ago, the VRE Operations Board voted to end a 17-year partnership with Amtrak, and recommended staffing train crews and maintenance workers starting July 1, 2010, with Keolis employees.

Before the five-year contract can be awarded to Keolis, with two renewable five-year options, it must be approved by two transportation commissions.

Both the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission were scheduled to address the contract at their meetings on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Amtrak is asking the commissions to consider its challenge before taking any final action.

Amtrak has requested VRE turn over copies of the Keolis proposal, evaluators' notes and scoring sheets.

The proposals were scored on a scale from 0 to 100 points. The scores will be made public after the transportation commissions vote, Roeber said.

"There is a wide margin," Roeber said. "It's not one or two points."

Amtrak's bid was higher than the Keolis bid. Amtrak proposed providing services for $17.2 million a year, plus $2.2 million in first-year transition costs.

Keolis' bid was $16.9 million a year, with $1.7 million in transition costs.

Although Keolis does not have U.S. experience, it employs more than 40,000 people and operates bus, trolley and train service in France and several other European counties. It operates more than 5,000 trains a day and moves 360 million passengers a year. Its parent company is SNCF, which operates high-speed rail service in France.

Keolis has hired several administrators with backgrounds in U.S. commuter and passenger rail, Roeber said. It opened a U.S. office in Rockville, Md.

However, Amtrak maintains experience should be defined as operating a train system in the U.S.

Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said it was important "to have some experience with U.S. rail safety and security regulations."

No job losses are anticipated if the contract is awarded to Keolis.

If Amtrak workers decide to take a job with Keolis, they can keep their salary, health and retirement benefits, and accrued vacation and sick time. New employees will receive a cash bonus. Or, workers can stay within the Amtrak system and seek a new assignment, although that could require a move.