TORONTO — The TTC is considering pursuing legal action against Bombardier Inc. after the company informed transit officials that they would be unable to meet their commitment of 23 new streetcars in the city by the end of the year.
City Councillor Josh Colle, who chairs the TTC board, said in a release Friday that the commitment made on July 29 that was supposed to see 23 new streetcars, 20 of them available for service, would not be met by the end of 2015.
READ MORE: ‘Enough excuses, we need streetcars’: TTC chair to Bombardier
As it stands today, there are only 10 new streetcars in service in Toronto, when Colle said there should be 67 of 204 operating based on the original contract.
Bombardier has now said that the TTC will only receive 16 streetcars in service by the end of the year and the 11th streetcar is not scheduled to be shipped to Toronto until Wednesday.
READ MORE: TTC ‘put the pressure on Bombardier’ on new streetcar delivery
Despite these revised commitments, Colle said the TTC now had “no confidence in the latest schedule” due to the aerospace and transportation company’s failure to meet prior deadlines.
“I am incredibly disappointed to learn that Bombardier, yet again, will not be meeting their commitments to deliver new streetcars to Toronto,” said Colle.
“We have spent a lot of time and hundreds of millions of dollars to secure desperately needed new streetcars for our riders through Bombardier. They have let down the TTC, our customers, the good workers in Thunder Bay, and all Toronto residents.”
Colle also said that the board had “lost faith in Bombardier’s public promises and ability to deliver this order,” adding that they would “not let Bombardier’s incompetence hold our patient and loyal customers hostage.”
With that in mind, the councillor said the board is considering all legal and financial options available to them to address the situation.
READ MORE: Shoddy manufacturing delays delivery of new TTC streetcars
Colle said a claim could be made within the existing contract for $50 million for late delivery.
Other issues to be considered include damages for maintenance and overhaul costs of the existing streetcar fleet, service and customer impact costs, (such as supplementing streetcar routes with buses) and TTC staff time spent addressing the issue.
READ MORE: Delivery of new TTC streetcars running behind schedule
Bombardier was initially awarded the contract in April 2009, and promised 37 streetcars by December 2014. As of Dec. 31, 2014 only three streetcars were delivered.
Bombardier said in a statement that it submitted a revised delivery schedule to the TTC due to issues with “the crimping of electrical connectors” on streetcars 13 and 18, which are currently in production.
“In order to address this situation and to ensure that it continues to produce the highest quality vehicles, Bombardier estimates that it will now deliver, this year, four streetcars less than previously announced. Therefore, by the end of 2015, Bombardier will have shipped a total of 19 vehicles to the TTC, 16 of which will be in service,” the statement read, adding that it would extend production hours by adding a third work shift per day to mitigate the delay.
“Bombardier regrets that its performance on this particular project has been disappointing to the Toronto Transit Commission and its riders and remains fully committed to continue to support its customer with proven solutions.”
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