Bombardier is still optimistic that it can meet its contract deadline with the TTC to deliver a total of 204 new streetcars to Toronto by the end of next year.
And yet, over the past four years, only 66 of the 204 cars ordered have actually been completed – which begs the question: How?
To give Toronto 138 more new, Flexity streetcars by the end of 2019, Bombardier would have to produce more than double the amount of vehicles it's already produced in less than half the time.
506 Carlton Streetcar built in 1977 when I was 11 years old taken out of service westbound at Parliament because the brakes aren’t working. Thanks @Bombardier #TTC
— Christopher Field (@fieldfastedit) February 6, 2018
It sounds impossible, but the Montreal-based aerospace and transportation company says it can – and will – be done, thanks to the addition of a second production line.
The Star reports that Bombardier is setting up another production line at its plant in Kingston, Ont. to fulfil the TTC's notoriously-delayed $1 billion streetcar order. This will be in addition to the dedicated line it already has operating in Thunder Bay.
A schedule submitted to the TTC shows that Bombardier plans to deliver 65 new cars this year, and 77 in 2019 – though one could be forgiven for being skeptical, as the most cars the company has given us to date in one year was 30, in 2017.
What to do when dealing with a pathological liar?!#Bombardier sets up new streetcar production line in Kingston, gives TTC new delivery schedule https://t.co/xQOT3mgvKK via @torontostar
— Elliot N. (@productionteams) February 7, 2018
There's also a long history here of unfulfilled promises and widely missed deadlines.
"[Bombardier has] a lot of work to do to regain the confidence of the TTC and its customers," said TTC spokesperson Brad Ross to The Star when asked about the plan. "We need these new streetcars more now than ever."
"We will wait and see if they hit their targets," he said when asked about whether or not he believed it was possible. "It's down to them to get this right."
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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