The Toronto Star says that many of the first streetcars delivered as part of a $1.25 billion order were so poorly manufactured that the TTC refused to accept them. Only five of 50 are now in service. The condition of the cars, as described by TTC spokesperson Brad Ross, is genuinely shocking. The faulty cars had frames that were out alignment with the walls. “Thunder Bay (Bombardier factory) was finding when they went to attach the under-frame to the side walls they weren’t square. You either accept that or try riveting it to create that square alignment. We rejected that. We don’t want it riveted. We want it built properly, because rivets pop,” TTC CEO Andy Byford told the Star. According to the Star, most of the early problems with the streetcars related to the fact that the European-design for the vehicles wasn’t working with the parts being supplied to Bombardier by a Mexican manufacturing facility. Bombardier must still deliver a further 30 streetcars.
