Bombardier says they'll be able to deliver Toronto's remaining streetcars in time

It's been a long and bumpy ride since the TTC made a $1-billion contract with Bombardier in 2009 to deliver 204 new streetcars by the end of 2019.

There have been countless delays, technical difficulties, and just an overall inability to deliver on their original promise. 

But now, shockingly, it's looking like they might actually meet their goal and deliver the remaining 38 streetcars by the end of this year. 

According to Bombardier, it has produced 166 vehicles as of July and 23 of the cars were delivered in the second quarter of this year, which is the most the company has supplied in any quarter. 

“We made significant investments over the last two years to deliver on our promise. For the second year in a row, we have doubled the number of TTC’s streetcars manufactured in Thunder Bay and Kingston and we are on track to meet our commitment to complete the delivery of the remaining cars by the end of 2019,” said Bombardier spokesperson Eric Prud’Homme in an email to The Toronto Star.

Although the Quebec-based company seems sure they can finally deliver, Torontonians are still unhappy about how the whole thing has gone down. 

How many years late is this?

— Barb Sews (@manytreadles) July 5, 2019

And many feel that the amount of needed repairs is simply unacceptable. 

166 delivered, but 67 of those have to go back to Bombardier for welding repairs. So, really, only 99 of 204 successfully delivered to date.

— Wendy Fisher (@WenditoTomato) July 5, 2019

Though Bombardier is promising to deliver the streetcars by the end of this year, the many needed repairs are ongoing, and Bombardier says they only plan to complete them by the end of 2022.