Bombardier Transportation signed a contract with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) for the supply of 204 100 percent low-floor streetcars to replace Toronto's aging fleet of vehicles. The contract is valued at approximately $735 million.
Deliveries for the 204-vehicle order are scheduled to take place between 2012 and 2018, with the first prototype vehicles arriving in 2011. Under the agreement, up to an additional 400 vehicles could be ordered at a later date as part of Toronto's Transit City Plan to expand the existing streetcar network with approximately 80 miles of new double-track streetcar lines.
The new vehicles are based on Flexity 100 percent low-floor, light rail technology modified to TTC specifications and special requirements of Toronto's streetcar network. The five-module, uni-directional vehicles with all-wheel drive will provide improved reliability and operating performance for the TTC along with a wide range of features, including a stepless interior allowing easy access at street level; car capacity for more than 240 passengers; increased heating and air conditioning capacity; improved customer comfort; enhanced accessibility and safety.
Other features include, locations for bicycles, wheelchairs and strollers; more efficient passenger boarding and exiting; improved communications features; and a regenerative braking system that feeds power back into the TTC network.
The contract represents the largest single order ever for light rail vehicles worldwide. Final assembly of the new vehicles for Toronto will take place at Bombardier production facilities in Thunder Bay, Ontario.