The TTC is estimating Bombardier will miss another target on its troubled streetcar order, and will fall 10 cars short of the 40 vehicles it was supposed to deliver this year. The latest edition of TTC CEO Andy Byford’s report to the transit agency board estimates that “based on current production issues,” Bombardier will only deliver 30 cars in 2017. TTC spokesperson Brad Ross would not elaborate on how the agency arrived at the estimate, which he described as “conservative” and “not a confirmed figure.” “We know that we’re going to have a problem … by the end of this year,” he said. “Until Bombardier confirms publicly, there’s not much more I can say at this time.” Representatives for Bombardier did not immediately return a request for comment. The Montreal-based rail manufacturer has supplied 18 of the low-floor streetcars so far this year, for a total of 48. According to the latest schedule, the company was supposed to ramp up production and deliver 22 cars in the final three months of the year. That would require building at least seven streetcars a month, a rate the company has never achieved. In July, Bombardier alerted Byford it might not be able to meet the 2017 target, due to what it described as a “very limited, short-term issue.” It said it was “deploying extraordinary resources” to keep delivery on track. Since the TTC placed the $1-billion, 204-car order with Bombardier in 2009, the company has repeatedly blown delivery schedules, and revised its yearly targets downward four separate times. Missing the target for 2017 would represent yet another blow for both the transit agency and Bombardier. While Byford has previously berated the company for overpromising on how quickly it could deliver, the relationship improved last year when Bombardier appointed Benoit Brossoit as its new president for its Americas division. Byford has praised Brossoit ...
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