[URBAN NOTE] "TTC will sue Bombardier over late streetcars"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Tess Kalinowski reports on the inevitable TTC lawsuit against laggard Bombardier.

The TTC board will sue Bombardier. But it’s not ready to excise the Quebec-based manufacturer from its list of suppliers, despite its repeated failure to deliver Toronto’s $1.25-billion order for new low-floor streetcars.

“We don’t think barring them as a supplier right now will get the streetcars on the street any sooner. In fact, it may do the opposite,” said Councillor Josh Colle, who chairs the TTC board.

And while the TTC will go after Bombardier for $50 million, its priority is to get the new streetcars in service. “We need them for our riders. We can’t continue to put out old vehicles on the street,” he said.

Among seven actions approved by the TTC board on Wednesday is a request that the CEO of Bombardier appear in Toronto next month to explain the company’s failure.

The TTC will also claim $50 million in liquidated damages and other compensation, for which additional streetcars could be substituted. The TTC has already looked at adding 60 more cars to the original 204-car order.