THUNDER BAY -- Bombardier Transportation is establishing a production line at its Kingston plant in an effort to ensure it delivers all the streetcars scheduled for delivery to the Toronto Transit Commission by the end of next year.
So far, the company's Thunder Bay plant has completed 66 of the 204 streetcars that were ordered, which is well short of the original production target.
Bombardier spokesperson Eric Prud'Homme says building some of the vehicles in Kingston will have no impact on jobs in Thunder Bay, where the plant is operating at full capacity.
Dominic Pasqualino, president of Unifor Local 1075, confirmed that "there will be no reduction in manpower" at the local plant, where about 900 union members currently work.
In an interview Wednesday with tbnewswatch.com, Pasqualino said any work that can be done in Kingston to expedite the completion of the contract "would be great, because the only thing that really counts is to make sure that all these cars are done by the end of next year."
Asked if community members should be concerned that work on future contracts could be done at Kingston instead of Thunder Bay, he said "I think there's enough work out there to keep us both busy."
Bombardier is currently in discussions with the TTC about an option for an additional order for 60 streetcars.
Prud'Homme told tbnewswatch.com he couldn't answer a "hypothetical" question as to which plant might build those vehicles, should the TTC exercise the option.
"We're always leveraging our facilities. The end goal...is that people really enjoy the streetcars in Toronto. We hear that they want more of them, and faster, so we do everything with that goal in mind," Prud'Homme said.
Bombardier plans to fill about 100 new positions at the Kingston plant, and expects to deliver the first streetcar from the new production line in the third quarter of this year.
In the meantime, Pasqualino said, the Thunder Bay facility will continue its own "very aggressive" production schedule through 2018.
A spokesperson for the TTC, reacting to Bombardier's announcement, said the company has "a lot of work to do" to regain the confidence of the TTC and its customers.
