Bombardier wants court to stop Metrolinx from axing $770M deal
TORONTO Bombardier Inc. has turned the tables on the Ontario government’s transit agency, filing a court injunction to stop Metrolinx from terminating a $770 million contract and saying it, not Bombardier, is responsible for the project’s delays.
Metrolinx formally notified Bombardier in November of its intent to cancel a contract for 182 light-rail vehicles, citing “significant quality and manufacturing issues.”
The trains were designated for new Toronto rail lines. The pilot vehicle was originally supposed to arrive in 2014 but has been delayed multiple times.
Bombardier said Friday that Metrolinx is responsible for the problems that “have put the project in jeopardy.”
“Since the contract was signed in 2010, Metrolinx has changed the scope, the timelines, and the technical qualifications countless times,” Bombardier said in a news release announcing that it has asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for an injunction.
“It is irresponsible for Metrolinx not to discuss issues in good faith and instead consider an unjustified cancellation of a contract that would cost Ontario taxpayers millions of dollars, kill hundreds of Ontario jobs, and put transit projects ... in jeopardy.”
Metrolinx shot back that it has been concerned “for some time” about Bombardier’s ability to deliver a quality product on time.
Bombardier said it is “fully capable” of delivering the trains on time, adding that the pilot vehicle has been ready since October 2016 but Metrolinx refuses to take delivery.
Company spokesman MarcAndré Lefebvre said more than 200 jobs in Kingston, Ont., and Thunder Bay, Ont., are at risk if the contract is cancelled.