The AMT cancelled a $103-million call for tenders for 24 double-decker train cars, for which Bombardier Transportation was the only bidder. The cancellation could mean delays getting much-anticipated double-decker trains on the overcrowded Deux-Montagnes line.
“The bid was considered not to have conformed to the call for tenders,” AMT spokesperson Fanie St-Pierre said. “So we cancelled the tender process. We’ll see now if what we have asked can be provided by other companies aside from Bombardier.”
St-Pierre admitted it’s somewhat strange that Bombardier said in its bid it cannot furnish several items that are standard on AMT trains: screens announcing the next stop, an intercom and a passenger-detection system. She pointed out that Bombardier has built all the agency’s cars, and most of its locomotives to date, and never had a problem providing those features up to now.
Bombardier also said it is not able to build the trains within the 24-month period stipulated in the contract, saying it needs 36 months to build the cars, according to St-Pierre.
“We’re trying to understand why Bombardier submitted this offer like this,” St-Pierre said.