In public transportation circles, Bombardier is best known for the rail vehicles it produces. But the Montreal-based company also contributed a different type of technology to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games underway in Vancouver, BC—designing and manufacturing the Olympic torch. The company is an official supporter of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The torch traveled more than 45,000 km across Canada—through snow, rain, hail, wind, and temperatures down to 40 degrees below zero Celsius—before arriving in Vancouver on Feb. 11 and being used to light the Olympic Cauldron at the conclusion of the Opening Ceremonies Feb. 12. Bombardier manufactured 12,000 of the torches, one for each torchbearer.

The company said it used the contours of Canada’s winter landscape as its inspiration for the shape of the torch, which symbolizes the tracks created in snow and ice by winter sports. A fuel blend of propane and isobutane allows the torch to burn in temperatures colder than any other torch run in Olympic history.

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