It's not a mishap on the scale of the Bertha tunnel-boring machine stuck under Seattle's Downtown waterfront, but contractors underestimated the amount of time necessary to build seven trains for the city's new streetcar line.
"The rails are set on Broadway. The electric wires have been strung overhead. A green bike lane was finished last year, followed by the concrete boarding platforms," reports Mike Lindbloom. Yet, "[passenger] service on the $134 million project has been delayed until “as early as the first quarter of 2015." The news of the delay came in a memo to the Seattle City Council.
"Train-builder Inekon, based in the Czech Republic, underestimated how long it would take to design and build the seven trains, said Ethan Melone, streetcar program manager for the Seattle Department of Transportation." The delay, however, will come at a price for Inekon, which will pay penalties of $25,000 the first day and $1,000 for each additional day of delay.
Barring any additional setbacks, this final delay means the project will arrive a year-and-a-half later than the city's original goal.
FULL STORY: First Hill Streetcar delayed: Line is ready, streetcars are not
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