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TTC: Flexity Streetcars Testing & Delivery (Bombardier)

ion - the Region of Waterloo's Rapid Transit Project. First North-American 100% Low-Floor LRV's
How can Waterloo's LRVs be the first 100% low floor LRVs? Surely there are others. And if not, what about the 3 Flexity LRVs already in use by TTC?
 
If the plant in Mexico is screwing up the stuff needed for assembly in Thunder Bay, couldn't Bombardier source it from one of its other plants?
Doubtless they could but I doubt this would happen quickly. Frankly, Bombardier is looking very bad over this mess. First the quality problems with the new subway cars, now the amazing delays in the streetcars. (To say nothing of their current plane delays.)
Would YOU give them another order?
 
If the plant in Mexico is screwing up the stuff needed for assembly in Thunder Bay, couldn't Bombardier source it from one of its other plants?

Tooling another plant for a large component could take nearly a year.
 
Doubtless they could but I doubt this would happen quickly. Frankly, Bombardier is looking very bad over this mess. First the quality problems with the new subway cars, now the amazing delays in the streetcars. (To say nothing of their current plane delays.)
Would YOU give them another order?

Nope.

I guess the most frustrating thing about this is that there's been so little progress on transit in Toronto for so long - yet there have been many examples of other cities making progress with Bombardier vehicles - and now it's being held up by, I don't know, lousy QA on their part.
 
Tooling another plant for a large component could take nearly a year.

True. But how could it get to the point that the Sahagun plant was making substandard components and shipping them here regardless?

Is the track gauge really the problem it's being made out to be?


And how long before someone says 'Boy, we should have gone with Siemens after all'?
 
Boy, we should have gone with Siemens after all ;)

6 minutes.

But seriously, we made the right decision. There was no way for us to predict these issues.

Really? There wouldn't be some kind of QA process in place to make sure the plant in Mexico got the hang of making the components properly before shipping them to Thunder Bay?
 
Is the track gauge really the problem it's being made out to be?

This is bullshit. Bombardier was well-aware of the track gauge before submitting its bid. It's not like it was a secret.

The sad part is that the public's perception is that the TTC is at fault, when it is obvious that all of this issues are internal to Bombardier.

"Unique streetcar track gauge; on a nine-week strike here last summer; on problems designing a ramp to load disabled passengers; and on managing inventory of parts." None of these issues are the TTC's problem. Where are the streetcars that Bombardier committed to providing, fully knowing that they would be designing a car to fit our unique track gauge, with a ramp, and would have to manage a large inventory of parts due to their "worldwide assembly chain"? They knew all of that going in, before committing to a production/delivery schedule. The strike is an unknowable, but it is hardly the TTC's fault, and likely Bombardier's own fault for letting it happen.

It sounds like they are definitely going to be paying liquidated damages on this one.
 
This is bullshit. Bombardier was well-aware of the track gauge before submitting its bid. It's not like it was a secret.

The sad part is that the public's perception is that the TTC is at fault, when it is obvious that all of this issues are internal to Bombardier.

"Unique streetcar track gauge; on a nine-week strike here last summer; on problems designing a ramp to load disabled passengers; and on managing inventory of parts." None of these issues are the TTC's problem. Where are the streetcars that Bombardier committed to providing, fully knowing that they would be designing a car to fit our unique track gauge, with a ramp, and would have to manage a large inventory of parts due to their "worldwide assembly chain"? They knew all of that going in, before committing to a production/delivery schedule. The strike is an unknowable, but it is hardly the TTC's fault, and likely Bombardier's own fault for letting it happen.

It sounds like they are definitely going to be paying liquidated damages on this one.

How much could Bombardier be losing over this?
 
This is bullshit. Bombardier was well-aware of the track gauge before submitting its bid. It's not like it was a secret.

The sad part is that the public's perception is that the TTC is at fault, when it is obvious that all of this issues are internal to Bombardier.

"Unique streetcar track gauge; on a nine-week strike here last summer; on problems designing a ramp to load disabled passengers; and on managing inventory of parts." None of these issues are the TTC's problem. Where are the streetcars that Bombardier committed to providing, fully knowing that they would be designing a car to fit our unique track gauge, with a ramp, and would have to manage a large inventory of parts due to their "worldwide assembly chain"? They knew all of that going in, before committing to a production/delivery schedule. The strike is an unknowable, but it is hardly the TTC's fault, and likely Bombardier's own fault for letting it happen.

It sounds like they are definitely going to be paying liquidated damages on this one.

Presumably being able to work to the track gauge would have been part of getting the order in the first place!

AFAIK the ramp exists and works - the designing of it can't really be considered a current problem.
 

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