The New York City Transit Authority has withdrawn nearly 300 metro cars recently delivered by Bombardier due to safety concerns.
Two recent incidents “raised questions about the reliable operation” of the car’s doors, prompting the organization to remove the 298 vehicles from the network on Tuesday evening, President Andy Byford said in a statement.
“As documented, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has identified repeated problems with Bombardier’s performance and finds this latest development unacceptable. We intend to hold the company fully accountable, ”Byford said on Wednesday.
The incidents left no injuries, and the New York City Transit Service redeployed spare cars to serve the morning rush hour, he added.
Mr Byford, who also dealt with Bombardier during his tenure as head of the Toronto Transit Commission, briefly suspended deliveries of the new cars last January, citing software glitches and previous issues with springs between cars and doors that “oozed oil”.
For its part, Bombardier claimed that two car doors in the New York subway park “had not worked as expected” because they had not been properly calibrated by the supplier.
“We now inspect all R179 cars and, when necessary, make adjustments to ensure the safe and reliable performance of the doors for the entire fleet,” said spokesperson Maryanne Roberts.
The company hired additional technicians to work “around the clock,” she added.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer criticized the MTA, which oversees transportation in the state, for the difficulties with deliveries, which he called “unacceptable.”
“New York subway passengers footing the bill for MTA’s US $ 600 million contract with Bombardier have been promised new, state-of-the-art train cars to help modernize our ailing transportation system. Now all the cars that have been delivered to date have been withdrawn from service due to critical issues, ”Stringer said in a statement.
Last month, the comptroller released an audit explaining how the contract was three years behind schedule, which cost taxpayers millions of dollars more.
Mr Stringer noted on Wednesday that his investigation found “repeated failures to meet deadlines and contractual requirements, poor project management and technical breakdowns, structural faults that delayed the commissioning of cars and several structural issues. previous ones which led to the decommissioning of some of these trains. “
“Bombardier sold us lemons. Riders need the MTA to manage these contracts from the start – before the trains derail, ”he said.
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