New York City pulls 300 Bombardier subway cars, citing safety concerns

The head of New York City’s transit authority says it has pulled nearly 300 newly delivered subway cars made by Bombardier Inc. due to safety concerns.

Andy Byford says two recent incidents “raised questions about the reliable operation” of the car doors, prompting the authority to remove them from service Tuesday night.

The incidents caused no injuries, but Byford says the problems are “unacceptable” and the latest in a series of issues with the Bombardier trains.

Byford, who also dealt with company during his time at the helm of the Toronto Transit Commission, briefly suspended deliveries of the new cars last January, citing software issues and previous problems with springs between the cars and doors that were “weeping oil.”

Bombardier says two doors on cars in the New York City fleet “failed to function as intended” because they were not properly calibrated by the supplier.

The Montreal-based company says it is focused on getting the cars back into service by inspecting doors on the entire fleet and bringing in additional technicians to work “around the clock.”