WATERLOO REGION — With the region's announcement Tuesday that the light rail launch has been delayed to 2018 because of late Bombardier trains, many questions are arising as to how the region got here and what can be done about it.

The Record compiled the contents of an interview with Coun. Tom Galloway, the chair of the committee overseeing the rapid transit project, to answer those questions.

A quick primer:

On Tuesday, officials announced a second train delay that will keep light rail from launching in late 2017.

The announcement came after a senior regional official and a Bombardier official said Friday that there would be no further delay in the region's order after the company announced it would transfer its Metrolinx contract to a Kingston plant in October in an effort to speed up delayed streetcars for the Toronto Transit Commission.

The first train will arrive in December. The original deadline was August. The final train won't be delivered until October 2017, about four months behind schedule.

The financial implications of the delays are not yet certain, but there is expected to be some additional cost. 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.

Regional politicians approved the $92.4-million deal for Bombardier trains in July 2013.

Regional staff, consultants and representatives from Crown corporation Metrolinx have done inspections at the Thunder Bay site to ensure quality of the vehicles.

Q: Is there a backup plan in the event Bombardier misses the December 2016 deadline?

A: "No. There really is no Plan B for a couple of reasons," Galloway said.

The region says there is no other manufacturer with extra low-floor vehicles sitting around. If the region opted to contract someone new, that would only increase the delay and the region would likely still have to pay Bombardier for work completed so far.

The region could investigate starting service with fewer than the 14 vehicles currently planned. To provide 15-minute service, frequency requires 12 trains plus two spares. With fewer trains, the region could probably launch 30-minute service initially, with the downside being that may not attract the ridership officials want to see.

Q: Why not break the contract?

A: If the region broke its contract with Bombardier that would likely mean years of legal wrangling between the two parties. That would still likely require paying the company for work completed.

Q: Can the construction schedule for GrandLinq be altered to line up with anticipated train delivery?

A: No. GrandLinq is required by contract to have the light rail system substantially completed by July 1, 2017. On that date, the region must start making payments to GrandLinq for operations and maintenance.

If the trains aren't ready and GrandLinq completes construction on time, the region still has to pay but the government won't be receiving the revenue from fares it anticipated.

However, at this point GrandLinq is behind schedule, Galloway said, so that might eliminate the gap. It is too early to call though since the consortium has more than a year to make up time.

Q: What is Bombardier doing to meet its deadlines?

A: Bombardier is moving production of the region's light rail trains to Kingston in October, with production expected to start in 2017. Some trains will be finished in Thunder Bay.

According to a work plan provided to the region, the company is taking several other actions including improving the expertise of workers and addressing staff turnover to deal with quality problems. A more comprehensive and joint control and monitoring program is also proposed so the region has a better idea of what is going on.

Q: Did the region see this coming?

A: Not really.

After informing officials in April of a train delay that would not impact the launch of light rail here, the region says there was no indication things were going to get worse.

"We can only go by what Bombardier was telling us and their corporate culture appears to be such that they told you what you wanted to hear," Galloway said.

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Q: Did the region build any flex time into the project schedule in case of construction or other delays?

A: Yes, but that's been eaten by the train delay.

Q: Why did the region choose Bombardier?

A: Several reasons.

The Bombardier Flexity vehicle was preferred for the local system and has been used for various projects in Europe. The region wanted the low-floor vehicle.

The region also had to meet 25 per cent Canadian content rules to fulfil its funding agreement with the province, which is paying up to $300 million toward construction.

Other suppliers could have met the standard, Galloway said, but Bombardier could more easily.

Choosing Bombardier allowed the region to piggyback on the Metrolinx contract, which saved time and an estimated $1 million per vehicle.

Other options were to include the trains in the GrandLinq contract or put out a request for proposals.

Q: Why weren't the trains included in the GrandLinq contract for the project?

A: Doing so would have delayed the ordering of the trains by about a year because the design, build, finance, operate and maintain contract for light rail wasn't awarded until 2014. The region made its order in 2013.

As well, the region's order of 14 trains is considered small and may have cost more.

Q: Does the delay impact light rail construction?

A: No.

Q: If the final train is to be delivered in October 2017, isn't that enough time to launch the system that year?

A: Once the trains are delivered, the system still needs to be tested and the vehicles broken in. Each train also needs to be outfitted to match the electronics in the trains with what GrandLinq used for the system.

Q: Are officials worried Bombardier won't meet its December deadline?

A: "There is a fear for us that have lived and breathed this for almost 10 years now and some of us have the scars to show for it," Galloway said. "This is a big deal and any delay there's a sense of failure even though this is beyond our control."