Class-action request filed against exo over late trains

A request for a class-action lawsuit filed at the Montreal courthouse on Monday argues that exo should compensate commuters affected by late or cancelled trains.

The request contends that the commuter train service provider (formerly known as the AMT and the RTM) failed to provide adequate service to people who purchased tickets and passes in the past three years, causing them and their families “stress and inconvenience, out-of-pocket expenses, loss of income and loss of opportunity for advancement.”

The class-action request was filed by lawyer James Duggan, who knows the service issues on exo’s Deux-Montagnes line firsthand.

Duggan takes the train to work each morning from the Roxboro station. He has been frustrated by cancelled trains at rush hour and has seen people waiting in the cold, unable to get on trains that are filled.

“I’ve been on that train like a hostage for what felt like hours,” he said. “One morning, what normally takes half an hour took two hours.”

On July 17, exo announced that it could no longer guarantee the punctuality of its trains on the Deux-Montagnes and Mascouche lines.

The organization said that since June 25, because of construction of the REM light rail project, trains travelling in both directions on the Deux-Montagnes line were only able to use a single track between Montpellier station and the MontRoyal tunnel entrance.

The class-action request maintains that exo’s inability to adequately service and maintain the Deux-Montagnes line shows disregard for its clientele.

Exo spokesperson Elaine Arsenault acknowledged that there are delays on the Deux-Montagnes line, but she said they’re improving. She refused to comment on the class- action request.