Toronto’s new Rocket subway cars are stuck on the launch pad months after they were expected to arrive in Toronto.

The delay, blamed on the bankruptcy of the New York-based door manufacturer, means Yonge-University riders will wait at least six additional months for some relief from the overcrowding on the system’s busiest line.

The new TR cars were supposed to begin testing in the TTC tunnels early this year. But officials say that it will be at least late August before the first Rockets arrive and the end of the year before they’re pressed into service.

Like the T1 cars running now on the Yonge line that will be moved over to the Bloor-Danforth line, the Toronto Rockets contain 66 seats. But open gangways that allow riders to move up and down the six-car trains, and a new seating configuration, means they can carry about 10 per cent more standing riders than the 1,000 that pack onto the existing trains.

Bombardier has done everything it can to minimize the impact of the manufacturing delay on the TTC and has set up a new supply chain that includes doing some of the door work in-house at the company’s Thunder Bay plant, said spokesman Marc-André Lefebvre.

“Right now we’re testing the cars at our Kingston test track,” he said.

The delay won’t affect TTC operations.

“We’re ok now. But because ridership continues to grow, really what we’re talking about is passenger comfort levels and crowding issues,” said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

Toronto City Council awarded the $710 million Toronto Rocket contract to Bombardier in 2006 as a way of saving jobs in Thunder Bay. But the move hit controversy when a rival manufacturer suggested a competitive bidding process would have given taxpayers better value for their money.

Because the bankruptcy is considered beyond Bombardier’s control, the company won’t be penalized for the delay, said Ross.

The new cars, combined with a computerized signaling system on the Yonge line called automatic train control, along with more trains and crossover tracks, is expected to expand the TTC’s oldest subway line by 30 to 50 per cent by 2017.

Unlike the current subway cars that can be detached from one another, the Toronto Rockets come in six-car trains that include two cabs at each end and four coaches in between.

It will take about two years for the TTC to receive all 234 new subway cars.

Security: The yellow emergency strips will remain. But there’s also a new passenger alarm intercom system: Each car will have six intercoms (36 on each train of six cars), placed at every other doorway, allowing for voice communication with an operator or guard. Each car will have four closed-circuit cameras placed strategically to give an operator and guard live images of the train's interiors, so they can see what's going on when an alarm is activated.

Germ control: Stanchions on each side of the 1.5-metre doors will all have an anti-bacterial coating to help prevent the spread of germs.

Accessibility: Each car will have two accessible areas (12 per train) with three individual fold-down seats. Guide strips will help visually impaired riders.

Wayfinding: Flashing subway route maps will visually announce the next station, indicating transfer stops such as Yonge and St. George and showing the direction the train is travelling. Synchronized audio and visual announcements will be provided together with additional LED/LCD displays for broadcasting messages about delays or service disruptions.

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Trains: Six-car configurations with a cab at front and back. The cars cannot be detached from one another, but riders can move easily between cars. Each car will accommodate 66 seated and 199 standing riders on average, compared with 184 standing passengers on the existing T1s. The cab cars each have 64 seats and the non-cab cars have 68.

Older subway cars: The T1 series cars built between 1996 and 2001 will be redeployed from the Yonge line to the Bloor-Danforth line. That will allow the TTC to retire the H4 cars on the east-west route. They have been running since 1974.

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