That means the streetcar would likely not be ready in time for the Big 12 Tournament.
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The installation of the streetcar tracks are almost complete and soon all of the overhead lines will be installed but one major piece of the system is missing.
Kansas City Communications Director Chris Hernandez says the city has expressed its displeasure with the delays and is now negotiating with CAF, insisting that they “do what they need to do to fix their production process so that streetcars in ideal condition are delivered to us on our schedule”.
CAF USA Inc., the company responsible for manufacturing the streetcars, may not have the cars ready in time for the project to wrap up in the spring. The company told the city earlier this year it would not make that deadline and instead would deliver the cars in late September. The city is charging CAF $1,000 a day for each day it is late for a June 10 delivery – the original date the first streetcar vehicle was to be delivered.
Mayor Sly James has said it’s crucial that the new two-mile downtown streetcar system can carry passengers in time for the March 2016 tournament, which is expected to draw to draw thousands of visitors to downtown Kansas City.
“We were down $25,000”.
In the meantime, Heuser worries he won’t be able to keep his business afloat for much longer. “I just don’t know”.
“It’s a problem, but it’s well worth waiting for”, he said.
On Tuesday evening, the city released images of the cars taken by representatives of Kansas City at CAF’s construction facility on July 23 that show a partially completed streetcar vehicle apparently destined for Kansas City. “A lot of people come in cars and have difficulty parking, so streetcars will solve the problem I think”.
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Kansas City isn’t wrangling with streetcar manufacturer CAF USA Inc. alone.
