Slow December for AMT trains
AMT blames factors beyond its control
If you’re a regular AMT train user, you probably noticed more delays on your daily commute in December. Well, it turns out that after crunching the numbers Gazette transportation reporter Andy
Riga discovered that December 2012 results were the worst since January 2009, when constant train delays and cancellations had commuters in an uproar.
Not since delay-plagued January 2009 have Montreal commuters had to contend with as many late trains as they did this past December, a Gazette analysis has found.
The Agence métropolitaine de transport considers a train late when it arrives at its final destination at least six minutes after its scheduled time.
The authority’s target is for trains on its five lines to be within that six-minute range 95 per cent of the time.
In December 2012, trains were on time only 86 per cent of the time on the Candiac and Blainville–St-Jérôme lines, and 88 per cent on Vaudreuil–Hudson. On DeuxMontagnes, the rate was 92 per cent, and it was 93 per cent on Mont-St-Hilaire.
The results are the worst since January 2009, when frequent train delays and cancellations had commuters in an uproar.
In January 2009, trains were on time only 76 per cent of the time on the VaudreuilHudson line, and 89 per cent on Deux-Montagnes.
The AMT does not break down its on-time performance figures so it is impossible to know whether its rush-hour performance, for example, is worse than at offpeak times when delays affect far fewer passengers.
AMT spokeswoman Brigitte Léonard blamed several factors for this past December’s delays, including the Dec. 27 snowstorm and two incidents in which AMT trains struck people on tracks.
“A lot of these cases are explained by factors beyond the AMT’s control,” Léonard said.
Reliability has improved somewhat in 2013.
But January’s on-time performance was still below target and below previous years.
The on-time performance was just over 90 per cent for the Deux-Montagnes and Vaudreuil–Hudson lines.
Across the five lines in January 2013, trains were on time 92 per cent of the time.
That’s well below the 96.3 per cent figure for January 2012. In January 2011, it was 97 per cent.
For January, Léonard blamed the poor performance on several factors, including a Jan. 28 downtown Montreal water main break that paralyzed the Deux-Montagnes line, heavy winds that affected the Candiac trains on Jan. 31 and general “difficult winter conditions.”
Léonard said the situation has stabilized in February. Last week, overall on-time performance was 96 per cent, she said.
The AMT recently set up five Twitter accounts — one for each line — to alert commuters about delays.
The authority has had a late-train email alert system in place for years, but com- muters complain that it rarely provides useful or timely information.
On-train communication also continues to be lacking, with users often left waiting on trains with no explanation or updates.
AMT trains have in recent months been delayed several times for problems involving train switches and signals on Canadian Pacific tracks used by three lines — Candiac, Blainville–St-Jérôme and Vaudreuil–Hudson.
Those glitches have often occurred at rush hour on tracks all three lines share between Lucien L’Allier and Montreal West stations, with the domino effect delaying multiple trains.