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“We intend to hold the company fully accountable,” Byford said.

Maryanne Roberts, a spokeswoman for Bombardier, blamed the latest issue on Kangni Mechanical & Electrical Co Ltd., a China-based company that she said supplied the problematic doors. Executives there weren’t immediately available for comment. Roberts said Bombardier would inspect all of its New York subway cars to ensure safety.

“Our investigation shows that the doors were not properly calibrated by Kangni,” she said in an email. “We value our partnership with New York City Transit and are fully committed to providing high quality, reliable, safe rail cars.”

The Bombardier cars would have accounted for more than 5 per cent of the city’s 5,400-car subway fleet used on any given day, said MTA spokesman Tim Minton.

Blistering Report

The equipment failures and the transit agency’s monitoring of the company’s performance were the subject of a blistering report by city Comptroller Scott Stringer last month. The audit found that over the seven-year contract with Bombardier, the company consistently failed to meet project deadlines, produce acceptable work and promptly correct serious defects.

The audit also showed that the MTA failed to adequately oversee Bombardier’s contract performance and failed to complete required annual evaluations.

“Bombardier sold us lemons,” Stringer said in a statement Wednesday. The comptroller, who’s considering running for mayor next year, also said the company’s poor performance was due in part to the MTA’s “layers of mismanagement.”

The company’s stock was trading at about $1.87 as of 12:38 p.m. New York time, down about 3 per cent from its $1.93 close on Tuesday.

The shares plunged to an eight-month low on Aug. 1 after Bombardier incurred about US$300 million in unanticipated costs in its rail-equipment division that forced the company to cut its financial forecasts. The company had also stumbled in performing on contracts in Toronto and on a railroad contract in Switzerland.

Bloomberg.com