MTA Spent $600M For 300 Subway Cars, Got 18 On Time: Audit

NEW YORK CITY — As transit officials argue the MTA's budgeting woes can be fixed with a 500-cop crack down on turnstile jumpers, the city comptroller suggested Monday perhaps the agency shouldn't have spent $600 million on 18 faulty train cars and a three-year wait for about 300 more.

An MTA contract with Bombardier Transit Corporation produced a sub-par fleet of trains three years behind deadline and cost the city $35 million in repairs and contributed to subway delays that add up to roughly $300 million a year, according to an audit released by Scott Stinger's office Monday.

"Bombardier tried to sell us lemons and the MTA didn’t hold them accountable," Stringer said at a press conference. "Commuters are dealing with more delays and more subway breakdowns as we wait for trains that are three years behind schedule.”

New York City still hasn't received all of the 300 R179 cars it contracted from the transit manufacturer more than seven years after the $599 million deal was signed in 2012, Stringer said.

Bombardier missed at least 14 of 19 deadlines and flouted contract requirements that might have stopped them from producing a fleet of cars with frames prone to "hot cracking" that failed each of their five qualification tests, said Stringer.

Yet it was not until July 2016, six months before the 300 cars were due, that the MTA began checking in with Bombardier even though the contract called for annual inspections, Stringer said.

"The MTA repeatedly looked the other way, ignored clear warning signs and delayed in enacting penalties," the comptroller said. "The MTA gave Bombardier a pass."

By January 2017, Bombardier had delivered only 18 cars of the 300 cars contracted, according to the audit.

MTA representatives estimated the agency spent $35 million repairing old trains as they waited for new ones to arrive, according to the Comptroller's office audit.

Shoddy cars and missed deadlines prompted Bombardier to slash their price by $1.27 million and throw 18 extra cars into the deal, according to the audit.

But delivery was still incomplete as of Monday with just 298 of the 318 cars delivered, putting the company 35 months behind schedule.

Twenty of the new cars are not in service, Stringer said, reporting problems with emergency brakes, heating, ventilation and doors.

A report from The City found the new R179 subway cars cost nearly $2 million each and failed an average of every 127,374 miles.

"What do you call a new car that needs repairs as soon as you buy it?" Stringer asked. "You call it a lemon."

New York City Transit Authority President Andy Byford addressed the audit at a press conference Monday afternoon, according to the MTA.

Bombardier acknowledged issues detailed in the report and said the remaining cars would be delivered by the end of the month.

In a statement, a spokesperson said, "We are proud of our nearly 37-year partnership with NYCT and of the over 2,000 subway cars that we have manufactured – and are currently manufacturing – for New York."