Bombardier to permanently close transit equipment plant

Bombardier Inc. will permanently close a transit manufacturing plant in Kingston, Ontario, due to lack of orders. The facility, that employed 230, has been temporarily closed since November 2003, and about half of its employees have taken severance packages and left, said spokeswoman Helene Gagnon on Monday. The Kingston plant, which will officially close in December, was completed in 1982 by the Urban Transportation Development Corp. for the Ontario government to provide transit equipment, including subway cars for the Toronto Transit Commission. The latest contract at the plant was for the Las Vegas monorail, completed in July. Other projects included New York's AirTrain at John F. Kennedy airport, the Detroit People Mover and Vancouver's SkyTrain. A similar plant in Thunder Bay, Ontario will remain open, with work until the end of the year.