TTC meets with Bombardier about delayed new streetcar rollout
Posted June 23, 2015 7:05 am.
Last Updated June 24, 2015 5:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
By John Stall, 680 NEWS
TTC CEO Andy Byford and chair Josh Colle met with Bombardier officials in Thunder Bay on Tuesday to discuss the delays and quality problems with the city’s new streetcars.
The first vehicles of the new $1.25-billion fleet were so poorly manufactured the TTC wouldn’t accept them, fearing they’d break down, Byford told the Toronto Star in May.
The problems include laminate not adhering to parts and under-frames that have been badly out of alignment.
Toronto was slated to have 50 of the new vehicles on the streets at this time, a year after the first one launched, but there are only six.
The late delivery has been caused by a number of reasons, not the least of which was a strike at the Thunder Bay plant and challenges with the design of the wheelchair ramp.
Bombardier said it’s addressing the problems and 30 of the new cars are expected to be running on the Harbourfront, Bathurst and Spadina lines by the end of this year. All 204 cars are still expected to be delivered by 2019. Bombardier says a new delivery schedule will be released in the coming weeks, The Toronto Star reports.
The board has ordered a report by July to examine whether Bombardier could be shut out of future TTC bids.
Byford hasn’t ruled out legal action.
