A firm accused of producing lemons for the Transit Authority has won a new contract to build trains for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently approved a contract that permits Bombardier in upstate Plattsburgh to build 192 stainless-steel electric cars for the LIRR for $445 million by 2003.
The agreement also gives the MTA an option to buy an additional 808 cars for the LIRR and Metro-North – at a cost of $1.85 billion.
The MTA awarded the contract even though Bombardier has fallen five months behind schedule in building 680 new city subway cars – raising questions about the firm’s ability to handle both orders.
Bombardier this month missed the TA’s deadline for delivering the first test cars. Transit sources said the cars might not arrive until October.
In March, The Post obtained a scathing TA assessment that found the cars in production at the Plattsburgh facility were shaping up as lemons – with faulty wiring and misaligned parts that were grinding against one another.
TA inspectors blamed the shoddy workmanship on unskilled workers.
Soon after the assessment, the first new subway car derailed during a test run.
Bombardier and TA officials blamed the mishap on human error rather than the equipment.
Several MTA board members said they approved the new LIRR deal with Bombardier even though they are concerned about the production snafus on the new subway cars.
They said they were convinced the glitches have been corrected, noting that the TA had sent additional inspectors upstate to get the program on track.
”They will be able to do it, I’m sure. They’re a huge company,” said MTA chairman Virgil Conway.
Bombardier spokeswoman Kim Fischer insisted the company ”can handle” both the subway and railroad contracts.
The MTA’s other major train supplier – Kawasaki – also is plagued by delays.