Admiral Beez
Superstar
Forever?For better or worse we are stuck with our current 'track geometry'
Forever?For better or worse we are stuck with our current 'track geometry'
AIUI, it was extraordinary requirements for accessibility that sank the competitors.It is literally impossible to expand the turning radius of the tracks, there is not enough room in the intersections. This wasn't even the main issue, Siemens placed a compliant bid and Skoda has a 100% low floor car with steerable trucks.
Forever?
Forever?
Any of the 8 main builders could build TTC cars 5-10 years ago, but it was the Province of Ontario stopping them by saying the work had to go to Thunder Bay. Even the Chair of TTC back in 2005 wouldn't allow cars to be built elsewhere, other than Thunder Bay.Changing the track geometry will, in many cases, require changing the layout of the routes which would be a political football even if it was significantly cheaper.
I think forever, where forever is defined as containing the careers of most current residents, is probably a reasonable assumption.
That said, as LRT components get smaller it'll probably be less of an issue in the next order. All companies will have 30+ years of experience building odd-ball low-floor designs and will likely have a more flexible standard vehicle available in 2045.
In the meanwhile: BBD is having no problems securing more Flexity tram orders:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...6-million-swedish-tram-order/article32316682/
http://www.bombardier.com/en/media/...upply-40-flexity-trams-to-.bombardiercom.html
Maybe Bombardier should have first got their Outlooks manufactured in Germany, until the manufacturing plant in Thunder Bay had gotten the experience needed.
Not defending the shambolic nature of the deliveries...but under that scenario...how would they have got the experience they needed if the cars were built elsewhere?
business gobblygook terms aside ( )...my question was much simpler...it was suggested that Toronto's cars should have been built in Gemany until TB had the experience to build them....experience is gained by doing....so if they were not doing...how would they gain the experience?I am totally speculating here, but ..... one wonders if it was just too hard to achieve three-way information and knowledge transfer between three centers - Germany, Mexico, and Thunder Bay.... language differences, perhaps communication differences, perhaps different technology platforms, perhaps plant management culture especially on how Quality Control is managed and how it fits in the production organization, perhaps time and availability and willingness to travel to address issues first hand. Not to mention logistics.
Many excellent global organizations have no difficulty doing this, it's a core competency for selling things worldwide. One wonders if this particular global integration was a Bridge Too Far for Bombardier. It might have been easier to manage a two-way interface between Germany and Canada units....although the same risks exist even there.
A "what if" - but an interesting one, especially if anyone is looking for a topic for an MBA thesis.
- Paul
business gobblygook terms aside ( )...my question was much simpler...it was suggested that Toronto's cars should have been built in Gemany until TB had the experience to build them....experience is gained by doing....so if they were not doing...how would they gain the experience?