A streetcar named quagmire

Re Cancelling Bombardier order not an option, TTC says, July 5

Problems with this $1-billion streetcar order seem to be never-ending. This is a big company.

Anyone with some degree of mechanical aptitude, myself included, might like to know what this mysterious “welding defect” is and where it is located on the vehicle.

I hope Bombardier’s welds on the airplanes they build are better than these streetcars. It does not make for good press.

Are the streetcars welded in Mexico? Why do they have to be shipped to Quebec? Does the whole streetcar need to be taken apart? Does the TTC have a facility capable of a repair?

Why does this company have so much trouble producing their product? Jim Barrett, Toronto

Re Stopped in their tracks, July 4

As an industrial designer and a former student of Claude Gidman, the designer of the last generation of Toronto streetcars, here is a thought.

Given that Bombardier has agreed to pick up the bill for the welding repairs and that it is a precautionary move and not a safety issue, let Bombardier finally finish the delivery of the original order. Then provide the TTC with an additional six streetcars at no cost.

This would allow the recalled vehicles to be swapped out, six at a time, and repaired over the estimated four-year period. It would also allow the fleet to operate at full capacity, regardless of how long the repairs actually take. Ian Alter, Downsview

Toronto is one of the biggest industrial cities on the continent, and certainly the largest in Canada. Repair facilities are here, including facilities for specialized custom fabricators, aerospace, aviation and military design, production and assembly companies.

Sending streetcars to Quebec for repairs is just a complete waste of time.

Bombardier says the repairs aren’t complex. They can choose to deliver the required parts and their own repair crews to Toronto to do the work onsite, or they can cause further delays to the TTC system, already overloaded and suffering from Bombardier’s disastrous and inexcusable production screw-ups. Harold Schwartz, Toronto