The TTC has identified up to five companies it believes could qualify for its next streetcar purchase, but a new report suggests Bombardier may be the best poised to secure the lucrative order despite its well-documented production problems.

The report that will go before the TTC’s board next Tuesday outlines the results of a request for information (RFI) the agency issued in September to gauge the market’s ability to supply new cars, on top of the 204 it is already purchasing from Bombardier.

The TTC has previously budgeted the anticipated purchase of 60 additional vehicles at about $360 million.

The $1-billion contract the TTC signed with Bombardier in 2009 includes an option for up to 100 additional cars. But the company’s struggles to stick to the delivery schedule prompted an exasperated TTC board to order the market-sounding exercise.

In addition to Bombardier, nine companies from around the world responded to the RFI, including U.S.- and Germany-based industry giant Siemens, CAF of Spain, Hyundai Rotem of Korea, and three Chinese manufacturers.

After a “thorough review,” the TTC concluded “four or five” of the companies “would be good candidates” for a bid. The TTC would not confirm which companies it has confidence in.

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“We do not want to disclose who specifically we think could go the distance,” said Bem Case, TTC head of vehicle programs, in an email, “we don’t want to discourage anyone from participating fully.”

But a presentation attached to the report suggests the TTC’s urgent need for new cars means Bombardier has a significant advantage over its competitors.

The Flexity-model vehicles the company is the midst of delivering already fit the TTC’s specifications, and according to the report, Bombardier could start delivering the additional cars midway through 2020.

If the TTC went with another company, it would likely have to put the purchase out to a public bid, and it doesn’t expect to be able to award a new contract until late 2020.

A different manufacturer would also likely need to make modifications to its existing car designs. It could take until 2023 just to deliver a prototype, and until 2024 or 2025 to start supplying the fleet.

The ability to start delivering the additional cars years earlier than its competitors could be a big boost for Bombardier, because as the report states, booming population and employment growth downtown is “putting tremendous pressure on transportation and transit infrastructure,” and streetcar capacity at peak periods was “completely exhausted more than 10 years ago.”

Streetcar ridership has increased 20 per cent since 2008, while the size of the TTC fleet has remained almost unchanged for nearly 30 years.

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The additional 60 cars were originally supposed to meet ridership demand until 2027, but they will now only provide enough additional capacity to 2023, after which time the TTC will need to buy more.

Bombardier spokesperson Eric Prud’homme said he understands that some Torontonians are so fed up with the company they believe it should be shut out from any future TTC contract.

But he said Bombardier has been meeting the most recent revised delivery schedule, and the cars the company has built are “one of the best in class.”

“It’s important that they (the TTC) look at options. But in the end we’re confident that when they’ll be comparing facts and analysis, Bombardier will be the best choice,” he said.

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross didn’t agree that Bombardier is necessarily in pole position.

“I think we need to wait for our report to come back and see exactly what it says,” he said.

“We wouldn’t want to prejudge any of those decisions at this stage of the game.”

TTC staff are expected to report back to the board with recommendations for the streetcar purchase in early 2019.

Under an originally agreed upon schedule, Bombardier was supposed to have supplied 148 new cars by the end of last year. As of May 29, it had delivered 80.

The latest revised schedule calls for the company to complete a total of 121 by the end of this year, and meet the original contract target of supplying all 204 by the end of next year.

The company says it has made significant investments in order to meet the 2019 target, including opening another production line at its Kingston, Ont. plant that is scheduled to produce its first car in October.

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