Bombardier has failed to meet the deadline to deliver a test vehicle for the $5.3 billion Eglinton Crosstown project in Toronto.
Metrolinx, Ontario’s regional transportation authority, confirms the Montreal-based company missed the end of August delivery date to have a pilot vehicle ready for testing.
“Bombardier was not able to deliver the pilot vehicle at the end of August. Metrolinx officials continue to work closely with Bombardier and track its progress,” Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said in an email.
“The latest information Bombardier has provided is that the prototype will be ready for testing within the next 3-4 weeks.”
READ MORE: Eglinton Crosstown LRT delayed by one year until 2021
The Crosstown, a 19-kilometre light rail corridor from west to east-end Toronto, is expected to be operational in the fall of 2021.
The light rail line will consist of 25 stations and stops, linking to bus routes, three subway stations and GO Transit lines.
The test vehicle delay is yet another blow to Toronto’s burgeoning transportation network which has seen continued delays on several projects including restocking the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) with new streetcars.
“Really what we’re saying to Bombardier is they still need to meet their commitment to deliver 204 of the new cars by 2019,” TTC spokesman Brad Ross told Global News Thursday.
“So we’re looking for an accelerated schedule in 2017.”
In April, Bombardier announced it cut by more than half the number of streetcars it had promised to deliver this year, angering the TTC, city council and Mayor John Tory.
READ MORE: Underground tunnelling complete for Eglinton Crosstown LRT
Bombardier was supposed to have delivered almost 70 new streetcars to Toronto by now, but the TTC has only 17.
The TTC is applying for damages under the terms of its contract with Bombardier, and is still determining whether to sue the company.
The Eglinton Crosstown delay comes as Bombardier’s rail division recently signed a deal last month with Metrolinx to build 125 additional two-level commuter GO Transit rail cars to be produced over a two-year period at its factory in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Bombardier valued the order at C$428 million (US$328 million).
READ MORE: Local businesses worried Eglinton Crosstown LRT construction will destroy livelihoods
With files from The Canadian Press
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