A sign outside Bombardier Inc.'s light rail plant in Thunder Bay, Ont.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Bombardier Inc.'s rail division and a consortium partner have won a $156-million (U.S.) contract to supply 40 low-floor streetcars to Sweden's second-largest city.
Berlin-based Bombardier Transportation (BT) and partner Vossloh Kiepe won the contract to supply the streetcars to the city of Gothenburg in a European-wide public tender, BT said.
BT's share of the contract is valued at about $109-million. Vossloh Kiepe, of Germany, will manufacture the propulsion system.
The contract includes an option, valid until 2026, for the supply of up to 60 more of the vehicles, BT said.
The new streetcars are adapted to Gothenburg's existing light-rail infrastructure and all types of climate and environmental conditions, it said.
The first two are scheduled to be delivered to Gothenburg in the spring of 2019 and the plan is for each to run and be tested for more than 20,000 kilometres before final acceptance.
BT has experienced problems on two major orders for public transit vehicles in the Toronto area.
The company has struggled to meet a series of deadlines to supply the newest generation of streetcars to the Toronto Transit Commission.
It has also been slow on delivery of the first light-rail transit (LRT) vehicle in a major order from Metrolinx, the regional transit agency, for a planned line on Finch Avenue West in Toronto.
The Globe and Mail reported last month that the Ontario government had privately signalled it is open to having other companies produce about two dozen of the 182 LRT vehicles ordered from BT.
President and chief executive officer Alain Bellemare said last month that Bombardier is making the necessary changes to correct production problems.