TTC considers legal action against Bombardier over delayed streetcars

The new TTC streetcar is shown in this still photo from a demo video. (YouTube / TTC)

The Toronto Transit Commission is considering legal action and other penalties against Bombardier after being informed that a delivery schedule for new streetcars has been delayed.

TTC Chair Josh Colle said in a statement that the commission was advised on Thursday that Bombardier would not be able to deliver 23 new streetcars to Toronto by the end of the year.

“I am incredibly disappointed to learn that Bombardier, yet again, will not be meeting their commitments to deliver new streetcars to Toronto,” Colle said in the statement released Friday afternoon. “We have spent a lot of time and hundreds of millions of dollars to secure desperately needed new streetcars for our riders through Bombardier.”

Colle added that Bombardier has “let down” their own workers, the TTC and its customers, as well as “all Toronto residents.”

Ten new streetcars are currently in service in Toronto. Based on the original contract with Bombardier, the TTC said, 67 of 204 streetcars on order should be serving TTC customers.

Now, a total of just 16 new streetcars will be in service at the end of 2015, the TTC said.

After repeated delays, Bombardier and the TTC had reached a revised agreement this past summer that would see 20 new streetcars available for service by the end of 2015.

But now Bombardier says it can only provide 16 streetcars due to a problem involving the crimping of electrical connectors.

In light of the “further delay,” the TTC board is set to consider “future sanctions” that may levied against Bombardier. The penalties to be considered include legal action, filing a claim of $50 million for late delivery, damages for maintenance costs of the existing streetcar fleet, and service and customer impact costs.

TTC CEO Andy Byford told CTV Toronto that the delay is “not acceptable.”

“Really at this stage, they really shouldn’t be making these basic errors,” Byford said. “At the end of the day, our customers want and deserve new streetcars so I’m not very happy about this, to say the least.”

Bombardier said in a statement that it “regrets” that its performance on this particular project has “been disappointing to the Toronto Transit Commission and its riders.”

The company added it remains “fully committed to continue to support its customer with proven solutions.”

With a report by CTV Toronto’s Natalie Johnson