WATERLOO REGION - Delayed Bombardier vehicles are costing the region an extra $1.2 million.

Politicians voted Tuesday to increase a contract with Infrastructure Ontario based on a delayed project launch due to late Bombardier vehicles.

"We've said all along the delay in the vehicles could well cost us some additional money," Coun. Tom Galloway said. "Here's an example and we will be looking to Bombardier to make us whole on this.

"This is a concrete example of an increased cost that's related directly to their delay in delivery."

The Region of Waterloo approved a contract of about $3.8 million for Infrastructure Ontario in 2012. That was based on the light rail project being on time and launching in late 2017.

The start of light rail service has been delayed to early 2018 because Bombardier has fallen behind on vehicle delivery.

As a result, the Infrastructure Ontario agreement is being extended for additional contract administration and issues management.

Galloway said Infrastructure Ontario is needed for its experience with infrastructure projects and to help wrap up construction with the GrandLinq consortium.

"We have to extend Infrastructure Ontario," Galloway said. "They're very important to us in terms of the process and guiding us."

Bombardier informed local officials in May it would not meet its deadline for delivery of the first train. That's been put off until December, when the original deadline was August.

The final train isn't scheduled to be delivered until October 2017, about four months behind schedule.

This week, Galloway and staff will travel to Bombardier's Thunder Bay plant.

The full financial implications of the delays are not yet certain. The region will pursue options to recover costs associated with the delay from Bombardier. In the contract, the provision for late trains is $1,500 per day, per train, up to a maximum of $3.3 million. The region can also seek further damages.

Other costs are expected including lost revenue due to the delay in service and claims from GrandLinq, which is tasked with having staff ready to operate and maintain the system.

"There'll likely be a claim that we'll have to deal with and again will be expecting Bombardier (to pay)," Galloway said.

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Bombardier has been taking heat for production problems related to light rail vehicles and quality problems for Toronto streetcars.

The region chose in 2013 to piggyback on a Metrolinx contract for more than 170 vehicles from Bombardier. The region's cost was about $92.4 million.