McGill students travelling from the West Island have been experiencing major delays on commuter trains run by the Metropolitan Transport Agency (AMT). Mechanical problems because of cold weather have caused long waiting times on the Dorion-Rigaud and Deux-Montagnes lines.
AMT spokesperson Martine Rouette explained that in response to a higher volume of commuters, the AMT has rented train cars from New Jersey Transit to improve service. Since January 12, the AMT has added 76 more train departures on its four suburban lines. On the first day of the new schedule, however, mechanical problems led to major delays. Rouette said that there have also been difficulties in communicating updates to passengers due to malfunctioning loudspeakers.
"We have placed agents on the trains and on the platforms to directly communicate any delays to the passengers," she said.
Students like Carly Glickman, U2 art history, who takes the Deux-Montagnes train to McGill from Dollard-des-Ormeaux, have been somewhat reassured by the presence of train agents informing passengers of when the train is likely to arrive. But according to Glickman that just isn't enough.
"That doesn't really help my situation because I'm still going to be extremely late for where I have to go," she said.
Although the trains are run by AMT, the maintenance of the locomotives and railway tracks is the responsibility of the Canadian Pacific Railway. CPR spokesperson Michel Spénard explained that the problem on the Dorion-Rigaud commuter line is that as soon as a delay occurs, "it's got a ripple effect all the way through the whole schedule."
"It is the CP's view that if you want to improve reliability and service, it takes certain costs in infrastructure improvements," he said. "Trains can cross from one track to another if there's one ahead of it that's in the way using switch heaters."
Spénard also admitted that the installation of these switch heaters would be a costly venture for the AMT.
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