swtat

and who was it that won the Los Angeles Contract the Merged company or was it CSR/CNR?

CRRC Changchun, the same arm that's building the MBTA cars. They are the ones with the better reputation.

Looks like CRRC is having some problems lol:

https://qz.com/724156/the-chinese-company-making-boston-and-chicagos-new-subway-cars-has-big-problems-in-singapore/

Old news, but also slightly misleading. CSR Sifang has nothing to do with the MBTA order, only the CTA's. Despite CSR merging with CNR, they still operate as separate arms. CSR was actually disqualified from the MBTA's procurement process.

Simple, they low bid everyone else and those operators have to take the low bid.

Not always. It depends on what the contract type is. In an IFB (invitation for bid), which is highly unlikely for a subway car procurement, the TA would be forced to award the bid to the lowest responsible bidder. In an RFP (request for proposals), many​ factors are evaluated from each bidder, including technical approach, engineering competency, manufacturing capability, participation of women/minority-owned subcontractors, etc. In the MBTA's order, the bidders were evaluated on their technical merits before the price proposals were even opened. CRRC Changchun scored higher overall than BBD and Kawasaki. CRRC Sifang had also bid, but they scored very low and was eliminated before the price proposals were evaluated. Sifang is the subsidiary that recently gained attention in the news for shoddy quality in the Singapore MRT cars.

Whether or not CSSR partners with BBD (which would be a nail in the coffin for their bid on the R211s), I'm not so sure the MTA will even consider their bid at all given the urgency and scope of this contract.  The last thing they need is any more headaches because they simply went with the lowest bidder.  And as has been the case, CSSR's other orders are not up to snuff.  If the MTA were logical about this (which they're unfortunately not always), they should just give this contract to Alstom/Kawasaki already and figure out how to split the order.

If they meet all the pre-qualification requirements then the MTA would have to consider them. It would be unwise, legally and politically, for MTA to bypass the competitive bid process. CRRC is made up of at least 3 different subsidiaries, all with different reputations. CRRC Sifang, who is building the CTA cars, is the one with the shoddy reputation. CRRC Changchun and CRRC Tangshan are the two other subsidiaries I know of that have better reputations. I can't seem to find which of the subsidiaries is collaborating with BBD on this order.