Bombardier N.Y.C. bid derailed by past delays

Transit agency’s mishandling of previous order of trains to blame, president says

Bombardier has been shut out of a $4-billion contract to supply subway cars to New York City because of past delivery delays.

The bad news for the Quebec-based company comes a month after Metrolinx, the regional transportation agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, blocked it from bidding on a lucrative contract to operate GO Transit.

According to the company, it learned last week that the bid it submitted in December to New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) won’t make it to the final round.

In a letter sent to employees, president of Bombardier Transport’s Americas division Benoit Brossoit stated bluntly that the company’s mishandling of a previous order for New York cars was to blame.

“Our poor performance and the major delays . . . on the R179 vehicle project have sealed the fate of our bid,” wrote Brossoit, according to a copy of the memo obtained by Le Journal de Montréal.

“Our actions have exacerbated an already difficult mobility environment in New York City, and our client’s decision demonstrates that the market is no longer willing to accept delays in performance and to withstand the impact of our shortcomings.”

In 2012, Bombardier won a $623million contract from the MTA for 300 R179-series subway cars. But the company’s production delays forced the MTA to plan to keep its old fleet in service for four years longer than originally planned, according to the New York Daily News.

The New York Transit Authority declined to comment because the procurement has yet to be awarded.

Bombardier spokesperson Eric Prud’homme said the company is disappointed by the MTA decision but noted that the loss of the contract to supply up to 1,700 subway cars is not expected to have an impact on employment at its facilities, including its Plattsburgh, N.Y., site.

Prud’homme said Bombardier is transforming its global manufacturing operations, but New York’s decision affects a relationship that has endured for 35 years and seen the delivery of nearly 2,000 subway cars.

The MTA’s decision follows Bombardier’s problems delivering on the TTC’s $1-billion order for a fleet of new streetcars, as well as a $770million contract with Metrolinx for light-rail vehicles to run on Torontoarea LRT lines.

The TTC order has been repeatedly delayed and, in July, the company warned the transit agency that it was at risk for missing the lower, revised delivery schedule for this year.

The Metrolinx vehicle order is tied up in contractual dispute resolution, after Bombardier successfully took the transit agency to court to stop it from cancelling the order.

As part of a separate dispute, earlier this month Bombardier filed an application for a judicial review of Metrolinx’s decision to deem it ineligible to bid on a contract to operate its Toronto-area passenger services.

Bombardier is currently contracted to operate GO Transit and the Union Pearson Express under deals that expire in 2023. But the agency is seeking a new operator as it embarks on a massive expansion of GO Transit service, dubbed regional express rail.

In its court filing, Bombardier claimed Metrolinx “unlawfully” excluded it from bidding on the new contract, which the company estimates could be worth more than $2 billion. Metrolinx hasn’t confirmed that number. The transit agency has countered that because the winner of the new contract will be tasked with evaluating the existing service, it would be a conflict of interest to allow Bombardier to bid.

A court date for the case is scheduled for Sept. 28.