Streetcar maker promises delivery by Halloween
The company making Cincinnati's streetcars won't make the September delivery date, but in a letter to city officials Friday promised the first car would arrive by end of October.
That's good news because it means the streetcar will be up and running on time next fall.
"Based on CAF's continued efforts, and barring any major issues arising from the remaining testing and production activities, the City remains cautiously optimistic that CAF will be able to ship vehicles to Cincinnati by the end of October and that the projected revenue service date of September 2016 will be achieved," City Manager Harry Black wrote in a memo to Cincinnati City Council and Mayor John Cranley.
In the letter, CAF USA vice president Virginia Verdeja wrote CAF regrets the delay.
"CAF is fully aware of its commitment to deliver the streetcars and regrets having to depart from the agreed upon schedule," Verdeja wrote. "As you may know, the vehicle CAF is manufacturing is customized to comply with all US standards and is not an off-the-shelf product. CAF is committed to delivering a vehicle without taking any shortcuts that may jeopardize the quality of the product and, therefore, first class service to the riding public."
The first car was originally scheduled to arrive on Sept. 17. In the letter, shared with the media Friday afternoon, CAF said it taking steps to avoid more delays. It will:
• Add shifts
• Perform testing concurrently
• Add engineering resources
• Resolve material delivery issues with suppliers
CAF is under contract for nearly $21 million to build five modern streetcar vehicles to run on Cincinnati's 3.6-mile route
After learning delivery of the first car would be delayed, the city's streetcar team made an emergency visit to the Elmira, New York, production facility this week.
They found good preliminary results.
"As with any project at this phase, the plan includes some level of risk," Black wrote in the memo. He warned issues still could arise, resulting in later-than-anticipated delivery.
Streetcar executives made it clear during the visit that the city expects CAF "to deliver safe, high quality vehicles to Cincinnati," Black said.
That means "no cut corners, sacrificed quality, or rush work that will undermine reliability or safety of the Cincinnati vehicles," Black added.
Councilwoman Amy Murray, head of the Transportation Committee, called it "great news" that there will be no major delay.
"This is positive news and we are on the right track with CAF," Murray said.
The city, SORTA, and the city's engineering consultant, LTK Engineering, will monitor progress daily.
City officials said they are prepared to collect any fines owed due to missed deadlines. The company is to pay a $1,000 fine to the city for every day delivery of the first rail car is late, according to CAF USA's contract with the city.
Track work for the $148 million project is more than 95 percent complete.
The streetcar team is going to Portland, Oregon, in the coming days, where they meet with Federal Transit Administration officials, something they do on a regular basis as a requirement of the streetcar grant.
Read city manager's memo, which includes letter from CAF: