Passenger Rail, Rolling stock & Rail Vehicle Design

Bombardier denies suing Queensland, hits back at NGR critics

Bombardier has insisted it is not suing the Queensland Government over the $4.4 billion Next Generation Rollingstock contract, and has questioned what it considers to be unfair and sustained criticism from the Courier-Mail over the train delivery program.

A report published over the weekend in the Courier-Mail said the Canadian train manufacturer had “hit the State Government with a $100 million damages claim” over the “troubled” contract.

Rollout of the first NGR trainsets was delayed after dynamic testing on the QR network found a number of issues which had to be fixed prior to the trains entering service.

A management crisis at Queensland Rail also delayed the train delivery program.

Bombardier has said the issues discovered with the trains were not at all unusual for a contract of this scale, and for the first dynamic testing of a new fleet of vehicles.

On Sunday the manufacturer refuted the latest report from the Courier-Mail, which said Bombardier is seeking over $100 million in liquidated damages costs over contractual delays it blames on the State Government.

“Bombardier Transportation is not suing the Queensland Government,” a statement from the company said.

“The contract with the State of Queensland is commercial-in-confidence. Commercial and legal detail regarding the New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) project is confidential.”

The statement went on to criticise the Courier-Mail for its reporting on the NGR rollout.

“The NGR trains have been manufactured to the specifications as set out contractually by the Queensland Government,” the statement read.

“Bombardier has, and will, continue to ensure its obligations are met in full. Claims that the trains are being manufactured by Bombardier with ‘design flaws’ and are ‘faulty’ therefore misrepresent the situation and are simply not accurate.

“Bombardier staunchly refutes incessant reports by the Courier Mail that the company has failed to meet its obligations under its agreement signed with the Queensland Government. This is simply untrue.”