Bombardier has missed its final target for 2017 on its troubled $1-billion TTC streetcar order, delivering less than half of the 150 initially promised.

The company delivered 59 streetcars by the end of 2017, said TTC spokesperson Heather Brown.

The agency placed the order for 204 larger, accessible streetcars in 2009, with the contract stipulating delivery of the entire fleet by the end of 2019. But by the end of 2016, Bombardier had supplied only 30 vehicles.

The Montreal-based rail manufacturer was supposed to deliver almost 150 of the vehicles by the end of 2017.

In May 2016, it set a new target of a total of 70. In October, it revised the number to 65 and then to 63 in December.

None of the targets were ever met.

“It means that we have to run the older streetcars longer and we would have to maintain that fleet longer than anticipated,” Brown said. “We would like to see the delivery on schedule and the numbers be maintained so that we can roll out the new streetcars and replace the aging streetcars that we have.”

The Star's Ben Spurr gets an inside look at where the new TTC streetcar is being manufactured in the Thunder Bay Bombardier plant. (Originally published May, 2017)

A spokesperson for Bombardier told the Star on Dec. 21 that the company would work over the holidays to honour its commitment and would produce 63 by Dec. 31.

“We’ve confirmed to the TTC that we are mitigating issues in our supply chain and that a total of 63 cars will be shipped (by the end of the year),” Eric Prudhomme said in an email.

Bombardier could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.

“We would have liked to have seen a larger number by the end of the year but this was the number that we were left with,” said Brown, adding that TTC is expecting 76 additional streetcars delivered by 2018, with two arriving in early January.

With files from Ben Spurr

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Read more about: