A TTC official supervising the transit agency’s $1-billion streetcar purchase expressed concerns earlier this year that vehicle manufacturer Bombardier was deviating from proper quality control processes “on a regular basis,” the Star has learned.

In an email written in March and obtained by the Star, the TTC project manager for the streetcar order said Bombardier’s failure to adhere to agreed-upon manufacturing protocols had resulted in vehicle components being damaged and cars being shipped to Toronto with defects that were not properly documented, among other problems.

The TTC manager also complained Bombardier’s failure to follow the procedures had persisted despite the transit commission “repeatedly” making the company aware of its concerns.

In response to the Star’s questions, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said the problems discussed in the email, which was written as Bombardier was ramping up production to make up for earlier delays, were related to “process compliance and resource efficiency” and had not compromised “end product quality” of the cars in any way.

Green said the issues were unrelated to the recently disclosed recall of dozens of the vehicles in order to correct a welding defect, and that Bombardier had since largely rectified the concerns the TTC manager raised.

Bombardier spokesperson Eric Prud’homme declined to answer specific questions about the correspondence, which he asserted had been “taken out of context.”

“Daily, thousands of Bombardier employees are interacting in person, in writing and over the phone with our large customer base,” said Prud’homme in an email. “Bombardier will not start to comment on every single commercial interaction. Our focus is on delivering on our promise to (the) TTC and Torontonians.”

The email obtained by the Star was dated March 28, 2018, and was written by Paul Nugus, the TTC’s project manager for the streetcar order. It was addressed to officials in Bombardier’s rail division.

The Star has also obtained a chain of emails in which Bombardier and the TTC discussed staffing levels to inspect the vehicles.

The emails were sent to the Star anonymously through an intermediary. Their authenticity has been verified by the TTC.

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In his email, Nugus detailed what he described as “process concerns” with how Bombardier was manufacturing the cars.

He outlined numerous complaints with the company’s handling of “quality notifications,” which are notices Bombardier is supposed to issue to the TTC whenever it encounters manufacturing deficiencies so that the issue can be tracked and rectified.

Quality notifications can flag cosmetic issues like scratched paint, or more serious flaws like missing or damaged parts. Depending on the severity of the problem, the TTC can opt to take delivery of the car and fix the imperfection at a later date.

According to Nugus’s email, in some cases Bombardier failed to write quality notifications before it sent cars to the TTC for preliminary acceptance, or wrote notifications “long after” a vehicle had already been shipped.

He wrote that it was evident the company was also failing to invite transit agency officials to meetings to discuss specific manufacturing problems, and was approving the use of “nonconforming” parts in vehicle builds.

He also asserted that in “most cases,” Bombardier was improperly carrying out repairs to vehicle components without TTC permission.

To illustrate the TTC’s concerns, Nugus recounted in detail a problem affecting Car 74.

In early February, Bombardier discovered a roof on one section of the car had been improperly positioned. Nugus wrote that the company failed to properly alert the TTC of the problem through the quality notification process, and it went uncorrected. In the ensuing weeks as work continued on the car, the poor placement developed into a larger issue that led to a failed inspection at the company’s plant in Kingston, Ont., and problems assembling the vehicle in Thunder Bay.

At some point in the process, the side wall of the car was damaged, which Nugus wrote was likely the result of Bombardier workers not using the correct tool on the improperly placed roof.

The TTC had flagged the importance of using the proper tool before, and Nugus said the agency would have raised the point again but Bombardier didn’t invite agency officials to a meeting to review the roof problem.

According to Nugus, Bombardier attempted to repair the side wall over a weekend without TTC approval.

“In TTC view, the damage to this side wall should never have happened if proper process had been followed,” wrote Nugus.

The damaged vehicle components “have sat from February 6 to March 23 (46 days) without any serious attempt made by Bombardier to ask TTC to evaluate a proposed repair procedure,” he added.

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Nugus said the problems with Car 74 were “typical of what has been experienced in recent months” and “highlight process concerns that TTC are seeing on a regular basis.”

“It highlights to our team that there is poor communication,” and “non-compliance” to the vehicle specifications and “agreed-upon processes” for quality notifications, he wrote.

“These types of concerns have continued despite Bombardier being made aware of them repeatedly in several forums,” including multiple meetings with the TTC, said Nugus.

According to the email, the TTC felt “pressured” to accept the side wall that had been damaged and subsequently repaired without the agency’s approval.

Green, the TTC spokesperson, confirmed Car 74 was “reworked” and brought into compliance using the repaired side wall, after Bombardier was able to prove that it “wouldn’t compromise the quality of the build.”

It was delivered to the TTC in May.

In the past, the TTC has bent its acceptance procedures to help Bombardier hit delivery deadlines on the much-delayed streetcar order, including by allowing the company to ship unfinished vehicles to Toronto and complete them on agency property at the end of 2016.

The emails recently obtained by the Star show senior TTC officials continue to consider it a priority to help Bombardier meet delivery targets. On June 27, 2018, Bem Case, TTC head of vehicle programs, told colleagues to waive regular overtime rules and have agency vehicle inspectors available on site any time Bombardier requested over the coming days. “This is of strategic importance,” Case said, given the company is “close to meeting their end of quarter targets.”

Green rejected the idea that the TTC was allowing Bombardier to cut corners in order to expedite delivery of the order.

“Meeting delivery targets is important to both Bombardier and the TTC,” he said.

“We are focused on getting these new cars into service for our customers, but only when they are tested and deemed safe and meeting our quality objectives.”

Green said that following the March 28 email, Bombardier launched an internal audit “that confirmed the issues” Nugus had raised and “identified corrective actions” to address them. He said the problems have “largely been resolved.”

Bombardier did not answer a question about whether its employees had been skirting the proper quality notification process in order to get the cars shipped sooner.

Under the schedule agreed upon by the TTC and Bombardier in 2012, the company was supposed to have delivered almost 150 of the cars by the end of 2017, and the full fleet of 204 by the end of 2019. Instead, as of last week, the TTC had just 86 in service.

Prud’homme, the Bombardier spokesperson, said that after investing $20 million in its streetcar production line, the company has met its revised delivery targets so far this year and more than doubled its output compared to the same period last year.

“These are concrete actions and results that demonstrate how Bombardier is committed to the success of the TTC,” he said.

The company has said it remains committed to meeting the 2019 year-end target for supplying the entire fleet.

Earlier this month, Bombardier revealed it will have to take the first 67 cars it delivered out of service over the next few years and send them to its plant in La Pocatière, Que., to fix a welding problem. The repairs are expected to take until at least 2022. The TTC and the company say they are working to ensure there is minimal impact on riders.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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