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UPDATED: TTC examines expediting an order for more streetcars

A TTC commissioner advised against waiting until the end of the year
Bombardier 6
Bombardier's Thunder Bay plant recently completed an order for 204 streetcars for the TTC (Tbnewswatch)

TORONTO — The Toronto Transit Commission board will consider speeding up the procurement of at least some of the 60 streetcars the TTC requires to meet existing passenger volumes.

It's an important issue for Bombardier Transportation and its Thunder Bay plant, where over half the workforce has been laid off because of a lack of orders.

Bombardier, which recently completed a $1 billion,  204-unit streetcar order from the TTC, is considered to have the inside track for the next contract.

Commisioner Shelley Carroll told the TTC board on Monday that it shouldn't wait to put an order in near the end of the year. 

Toronto hopes the Ontario and federal governments will each contribute one-third of the cost of its planned streetcar, bus and subway train acquisitions, but Carroll said it's important to show the Toronto public that the commission is moving to address transit system shortcomings by spending the money it already has in hand. 

She also referred to Bombardier being well-positioned to start production.

"The current supplier is mobilized. Obviously they've got a problem because there's a lag in orders...The Premier tells them he can keep them working for 50 more years, but he hasn't placed an order," Carroll said.

The board approved her motion to have the TTC's CEO prepare a business case analysis by May for the expedited procurement of 20 streetcars. 

At the request of Deputy Toronto Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong, a business case analysis will also be done for an order for 60 streetcars.

Minnan-Wong said "20 is such a low order. This is constructively sole-sourcing, because there's only one company that's going to be able to bid, and I am fundamentally opposed to sole-source funding."

The Deputy Mayor has been critical of Bombardier for missing delivery deadlines.

But a representative of a grassroots advocacy group representing TTC riders made a deputation at the meeting that was sympathetic to Bombardier and its workers.

Sean Meagher said "There are folks watching these proceedings from Thunder Bay and wondering if they should be winding down that production line or not. A very clear schedule that says...we are going to buy these streetcars will make a difference to that decision-making."

Bombardier spokesperson Sandra Buckler, who attended the meeting as a spectator, said the company is "ready and able" to make more streetcars, but she declined to discuss the ramifications of an order for 20 versus an order for 60 units. 

"We would welcome any opportunity to continue to be the mobility partner for Toronto," Buckler said.

 

CORRECTION:  An earlier version of this story erroneously attributed the amended motion to include a business case analysis on 60 streetcars to another member of the TTC.   



Gary Rinne

About the Author: Gary Rinne

Born and raised in Thunder Bay, Gary started part-time at Tbnewswatch in 2016 after retiring from the CBC
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