Unplanned work by the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) on the level crossing at the Île-Perrot station means instead of catching the morning train, passengers are taking the bus.
The Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) was informed of the work on Friday.
They were unable to push the date back to give riders more warning.
“It’s a bad surprise,” Chistopher Cuibesa, a Concordia student, said .
Commuters looking to head downtown had to catch a shuttle at the Île-Perrot station and head back one stop to the Pincourt station.
The AMT says although the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue station is a closer stop, they didn’t want to fight West Island traffic.
“There’s usually a traffic jam on the bridge between L’Île Perrot and Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue so the most logical place was to bring back people to Pincourt,” Jacques Coulombe, the AMT’s director of planning and operations, said.
That means while trains were on time, some commuters were running late.
“Normally I catch the train at 7:55 a.m. but now I can only get the 8:30 train so I’ll be 30 minutes late for work,” one rider said.
“I didn’t plan for this at all,” said Kay Kane on her way to Vanier College.
Inspectors at the station directed riders to waiting shuttles.
While the work was unplanned, many said they received the short notice warning.
“I just changed my routine,” Marie-Belle Morin said. “I brought my daughter to school first but it was 10 minutes difference.”
“I found out early the whole situation, so it was okay.”
The AMT recommends that passengers plan an extra half hour in their morning commute.
Buses leave every 30 minutes from L’Île Perrot and every 10 minutes during rush hour.
The station should be fully reopened by Thursday.
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