TORONTO -- A judge has stymied Metrolinx's effort to cancel a $770-million light rail contract with Bombardier Transportation.

Judge Glenn Hainey of the Ontario Superior Court today granted the company's request for an injunction to prevent the provincial transportation agency from terminating the deal without first undergoing a dispute resolution process.

"We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling," Bombardier said in a release. "The decision confirms our belief that Metrolinx acted inappropriately in seeking to avoid the dispute resolution provisions of the contract. It is unfortunate that Bombardier had to resort to the Courts to resolve this matter, and it is our hope that today’s ruling will now allow the parties to focus on delivering the light rail expansion projects on time and on budget."

Metrolinx was not immediately available for comment.

Metrolinx alleges that Bombardier (BBDb.TO) has repeatedly failed to deliver a prototype vehicle on time for the scheduled 2021 opening of the $5.3-billion Eglinton Crosstown line, citing deficiencies in the company's operations in Mexico and Thunder Bay, Ont.

It has said Bombardier's injunction is a tactic to force it into months of litigation that would make it impossible for another supplier to provide the vehicles on time.

Bombardier has rejected Metrolinx's allegations, saying it will deliver the vehicles on time by November 2018, well before the Eglinton Crosstown tracks are even built.

-- With files from BNN