Bombardier could be fined $21,000 per day for delayed LRT vehicles

This rendering shows the proposed design for the Ion stop at Mill Street in Kitchener. (Region of Waterloo)

Delays in delivering vehicles for Waterloo Region’s Ion light rail transit system could land Bombardier a hefty bill.

It was announced Tuesday that Bombardier wouldn’t deliver the last of Ion’s 14 vehicles until October 2017 – right around the time the system was expected to be up and running.

With months’ worth of testing to be done after the vehicles have arrived, regional officials decided to move the launch date for Ion to early 2018.

“Where we had some wiggle room previously, we don’t anymore,” Coun. Tom Galloway said in an interview.

According to Galloway, the contract with Bombardier contains penalties for delays of $1,500 per vehicle, per day, up to a maximum of $3.3 million.

Galloway says he expects Bombardier to argue against paying the penalties, likely by claiming that some of the events prompting the delays – such as a two-month strike by 900 of its workers in 2014 – were beyond the company’s control.

Other issues pushing vehicle production behind schedule include production issues in Thunder Bay and parts made in Mexico not fitting properly, Galloway said.

The delays with the vehicles are not connected to the construction process.

Galloway says he’s not aware of any issues that would see construction delayed past the specified construction date – though should that happen, construction consortium GrandLinq could face financial penalties of its own.

Overall, Galloway said, the project remains within its $818-million budget.

Meanwhile, one sign of progress on the project is nearing completion.

A test track for LRT vehicles in north Waterloo is expected to be finished by next week.