They're sleek, modern and quiet, but there's only five on the road.
The production of the Toronto Transit Commission's new fleet of Bombardier-made streetcars has been plagued with manufacturing issues.
Those problems have delayed the rollout of the futuristic streetcars, meaning that instead of 50 new vehicles in operation, there are only five.
"I'm determined that we will not introduce vehicles until they are absolutely reliable," said TTC CEO Andy Byford when asked about the delay. "There's no point in having new vehicles on the street that then break down."
Commuters got an opportunity to ride the new streetcars for the first time last August, when the TTC rolled out its first two vehicles on the 510 Spadina route. Since then, the longer and more environmentally friendly vehicles have also been servicing commuters on the 509 Harbourfront route.
All 204 new streetcars are expected to be delivered by 2019, when all the aging vehicles in the TTC's existing fleet are expected to retire. The new streetcars are being manufactured by Bombardier at a cost of $1.19 billion.
Byford says there have been problems translating the streetcars' European design at manufacturing plants in Mexico. The streetcars are put together in Bombardier's Thunder Bay facility.
"We've had problems with electrical connectors, we've had problems with the way the actual parts of the vehicle fit together," he said. "There were gaps in the fit and that's just not acceptable."
According to Bombardier, some of the parts from its vendors have not been meeting their expected standards.
"We are making sure that we fix these problems to make sure we're more efficient in the long run and deliver high quality vehicles," the company said in a statement on Wednesday, adding they have been "open and transparent" about the quality issues.
"The cars that we have delivered to date have been an extremely high reliability rating in service," Bombardier said.
The TTC hopes to have 30 new streetcars on the road by the end of 2015. The vehicles, which the TTC says is eight times more dependable than the older model, come equipped with a proof-of-payment system, air conditioning, and have more entry/exit doors.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Janice Golding
