Bombardier taking 'bold, decisive action' to deliver LRT trains

Bombardier says it is pulling out all the stops to make sure it is able to meet its new, later, deadline to deliver the trains for the Ion LRT.

Yesterday, the Region of Waterloo confirmed problems with production of the trains had delayed the service launch date for the LRT to early 2018, from late 2017.

This isn't the first time Bombardier pushed back the delivery date of its light rail vehicles. In April, it told the Region of Waterloo problems assembling the train cars at the company's Thunder Bay plant would delay their manufacture and delivery by between two and four months.

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"What we've taken now is bold and decisive action to make sure there are no further risks to the project," Bombardier spokesman Marc-André Lefebvre has told CBC News. 

That "decisive action" means involving plants in Kingston, Ont. and La Pocatière, Que. to ramp up production. 

"It's not only fixing issues and putting more people to work, now we're putting even more resources than ever. We're bringing up our two other manufacturing sites to make sure that we deliver," said Lefebvre. 

Cynicism growing at Region

But local politicians are growing cynical and tired of the delays. 

"We can only go by what Bombardier tells us. And unfortunately the culture of Bombardier in the past has been to deny and deny and maybe do a little misrepresentation. And certainly the TTC has seen that and Metrolinx has seen that," said Tom Galloway, chair of the region's planning and works committee.

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Galloway says Bombardier could be penalized financially for the delay: The maximum penalty is $3.3 million for missing the original agreed-upon deadline.