PIERREFONDS-ROXBORO – Passengers on the Deux-Montagnes AMT line were frustrated to find out they will have to wait at least two more years before new trains will be in service.
Commuters said they are fed up with overcrowding and the lack of seats.
“I’ve never actually had a seat on the train,” said Jean-Karim Metwalli, as he hopped on the 7:31 a.m. train Thursday.
“I assume the seats are for the Deux-Montagnes people or the Laval people, but not us.”
The commute has gotten so bad, some believe it could be a hazard.
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“By the time we get to Central Station, it’s dangerously overcrowded,” said Sandy Weigens, who has been an AMT commuter for 15 years.
“There are easily over 100 people in the corridors crammed in like sardines. If someone needs to get out for a medical emergency, they’d be hard-pressed to do so.”
Passengers have been waiting for years to get larger, multi-level cars and the AMT has even put out a call for tenders for new double-decker cars.
READ MORE: AMT signs agreement to buy Deux-Montagnes train line from CN
The catch? The new trains would go on other lines because the cars would be too big to fit inside the Mount Royal tunnel.
Instead, the Deux-Montagnes track, which is the busiest on the network, would get second-hand cars from other lines.
“Ridership is being taken for granted,” said Weigens.
Residents of the West Island pointed out there’s a misconception they only drive downtown.
READ MORE: Still no plans to help commuters during Turcot Interchange construction
Montreal city councillor Justine McIntyre said commuter troubles are making public transit a hard sell.
“People are using their cars because they don’t have a real option,” she told Global News.
“We have buses that take a long time and we have a train line that’s over-saturated.”
The current train cars on the Deux-Montagnes line have a capacity of 130, that’s 90 seats with 40 standing places.
The double-deckers would bring that up to 161, or 142 seats and 19 standing spots.
READ MORE: Train problems piling up on Deux-Montagnes line
With a potential two year wait for Bombardier to make the new cars, some are worried that commuters will just give up.
“Two years would be a reasonable amount of time. Anything more that and it’ll be hard to keep promoting public transportation for people in this area,” said McIntyre.