First Eglinton Crosstown LRT vehicle to be ready in November, Bombardier says

Thestar.com
October 31, 2018
Ben Spurr

Bombardier says it’s poised to deliver the first vehicle for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, an announcement that follows years of delay and a messy legal battle with the transit agency in charge of the project.

The Quebec-based rail manufacturer showed off the light rail vehicle (LRV) Tuesday at a media event at its plant in Millhaven, Ont., just west of Kingston, demonstrating that it had reached the important milestone of being able to operate the car at high speed on the facility’s test track.

Bombardier demonstrates the first functional vehicle for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at its plant in Millhaven, Ont., just west of Kingston. The company plans to ship the first vehicle to Toronto in November.

The Crosstown vehicles closely resemble the TTC’s new streetcars, which are also being built by Bombardier. The LRVs are about 32 metres long, and can carry 295 passengers -- 64 seated and 231 standing. They have a top speed of 88 km/h, and weigh almost 49,000 kg when empty.

The company plans to ship the vehicle to Toronto next month, and has a target of delivering five more by mid-February. It intends to supply the entire fleet of 76 vehicles to Metrolinx, the provincial agency that’s building the Crosstown, in time for the line’s opening.

The $5.3-billion Crosstown line will run across midtown for 19 kilometres between Mount Dennis and Kennedy stations, and is scheduled to enter service by September 2021.

“There’s been a lot of things written on Bombardier and on the LRV program,” Benoit Brossoit, president of Bombardier Transportation’s Americas division, told reporters. “It was important for all of you to see that we have made commitments, and we’re living up to those commitments.”

A Metrolinx spokesperson said Bombardier’s vehicles will have to pass an inspection before they are shipped to Toronto.

A Metrolinx spokesperson said the agency “continues to work with Bombardier to progress the assembly” of the LRVs, but said the car will have to pass inspection before its ready to be shipped.

“The first Crosstown light rail vehicle is tracking for completion and ready for review by Metrolinx in late November. Readiness for shipping will be determined after the review is complete,” she said.

Bombardier’s Canadian light rail vehicle program was foundering when Brossoit took over as president in April 2016, experiencing setbacks that included well documented delays to the TTC’s $1-billion streetcar order. Brossoit refused to discuss Bombardier’s struggles in detail on Tuesday, but asserted he had set the program back on course, in part by investing almost $20 million in the production facility at Millhaven over the past two years.

The Canadian Press reported Monday that Brossoit is stepping down as president next month. A company spokesperson said he asked to be relieved of his duties for personal reasons that were unrelated to any delays to the LRV orders.

 

Metrolinx ordered 182 LRVs from Bombardier in 2010, and planned to run them on the Eglinton Crosstown, Finch West and other Toronto-area LRT lines. But the $770-million deal devolved into a bitter legal dispute when Metrolinx claimed in July 2016 the company had defaulted on the contract by failing to deliver the vehicles on time. Bombardier was supposed to supply the first two prototype LRVs by the spring of 2015, but they never arrived.

Bombardier countered that Metrolinx had repeatedly changed the vehicle specifications, and claimed the prototype was ready but Metrolinx refused to accept it. The company took the transit agency to court to block it from cancelling the deal, and in April 2017 a judge ruled in Bombardier’s favour.

The two sides came to an agreement last December and revised the LRV purchase down to just 76 vehicles, cutting its value to $392 million.

Bombardier demonstrates the first functional vehicle for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at its plant in Kingston, ON.
Before that agreement was reached, Metrolinx inked a deal with French vehicle manufacturer Alstom to buy a fleet of 61 light rail vehicles, some which the agency said it will use on the Crosstown if Bombardier doesn’t produce its cars on time.

Metrolinx is purchasing 76 vehicles, at a cost of $392 million. The vehicles are about 32 metres long, and can carry roughly 295 passengers -- 64 seated and 231 standing.

Brossoit refused to entertain that possibility Tuesday.

“We have an order. We’re going to deliver that order,” he said.

In addition to the Metrolinx vehicles, Bombardier has started building TTC streetcars at its Millhaven facility, adding another production line to the one it already has in Thunder Bay.

The TTC has 105 of the new vehicles available for service. Under the terms a contract agreed to in 2012, the agency was supposed to have nearly 150 by the end of last year.

But Bombardier has increased production in 2018 and a TTC spokesperson said Tuesday the transit agency is “optimistic” the company will meet its commitment of supplying all 204 vehicles in the new fleet by the end of next year.