Province to consider Bombardier alternative

Other suppliers to get chance for Finch West LRT contract after ongoing delivery delays

With Bombardier struggling to deliver vehicles for Ontario light rail projects on time, the province has decided to give the company some competition.

A provincial source confirmed that Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are seeking other potential vehicle suppliers for one of their Toronto LRT lines. The agencies have told the three consortia bidding on the Finch West LRT that they can include a vehicle supplier as part of their bids.

The new instructions from the province mean that Bombardier may be dropped as the vehicle supplier for Finch. The bidding process is scheduled to close in February.

Infrastructure Ontario referred questions about Finch vehicles to Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Metrolinx wouldn’t comment in detail on vehicle procurement for the line.

“Metrolinx is exploring all options. No decision has been made at this point,” wrote agency spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins in an email.

Metrolinx placed a $770-million order with Bombardier in 2010 for up to 182 vehicles to run on Ontario LRT lines, including 76 vehicles for the Eglinton Crosstown and 23 for the Finch Ave. W route.

But the company has fallen behind schedule on the order. It was originally supposed to supply the pilot vehicle for the Eglinton Crosstown in 2014, but that date was later revised to spring 2015. The company missed both deadlines. In July, the company pledged to deliver the pilot by the end of August. Metrolinx still hasn’t received it. In a sign Metrolinx was growing impatient with Bombardier, this summer the agency issued the company a notice of default, claiming it was in breach of contract.

In addition to trouble with the Metrolinx order, Bombardier has been unable to meet the original timelines for delivering the TTC’s new fleet of 204 streetcars. The company was supposed to have supplied 73 by the end of 2015, but as of this week, the TTC has only 24 in service.

Under the latest revised schedule, Bombardier has pledged to deliver a total of 30 streetcars by the end of 2016. TTC CEO Andy Byford said Wednesday he has received assurances from the company that it will be able to supply six more cars over the remaining 13 weeks of the year, but he remains concerned.

“I’ve had more schedules (from Bombardier) than streetcars, so I have a healthy skepticism,” he said.

Selecting another company to supply the Finch vehicles could lead to a messy legal dispute between the province and the Quebec-based rail manufacturer. Bombardier spokesman Marc-André Lefebvre said Wednesday that the company intends to follow through on the original contract.

“Bombardier signed a contract in June 2010 to supply 182 light rail vehicles to Metrolinx. And so, we will manufacture and deliver182 vehicles to Metrolinx, as per our contractual obligations,” he wrote in an email.

Lefebvre said Bombardier has assembled the pilot for the Crosstown and conducted a “walk-through” of the vehicle with Metrolinx last week. He said the company will deliver it to Metrolinx once the inspection and testing is complete.

News that the province is amenable to alternative suppliers for Finch is being welcomed by other companies that say they would be able to supply vehicles for the LRT, a $1-billion, 11kilometre line that would run between Humber College and Finch Station on the Spadina subway extension.

“If indeed Ontario is open to other vehicle vendors, we clearly want to participate in the tendering/procurement process,” said Michelle Stein, a spokeswoman for French manufacturer Alstom, which is building light rail vehicles for Ottawa’s LRT project. “Alstom believes an open bidding policy would help the owner contain costs, guarantee timely delivery of equipment and bring the latest proven technology and innovation.”