Some commuting relief has arrived for thousands of train riders using the Saint-Jérôme train line.
Four new evening departures have been added to the schedule. This includes two trains leaving from the Lucien-L’Allier station in Montreal heading toward Saint-Jérôme and two departing from the lower Laurentian city toward downtown.
Catherine Maurice, an exo spokesperson, told Global News that a boost in service was a request that “clients expressed over time.”
However, many commuters on the busier Vaudreuil-Hudson line feel they’re being derailed.
No new departure times have been added to exo’s second busiest train line while Saint-Jérôme, which is the third busiest line, will now have more trains.
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In 2018, more than four million rides were registered on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line — nearly one million more than what was registered on the Saint-Jérôme line.
The ridership increase in the last two years — 9.6 per cent on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line — is far higher than that of Saint-Jérôme at 5.6 per cent.
“You would think that is where they would put the priority,” said Patrick Steele, a Vaudreuil-Hudson passenger rail line user.
Canadian Pacific owns the tracks on both lines. Maurice says nothing is planned in the immediate future for the Vaudreuil-Hudson line.
“We don’t have possibility at this moment to add trains on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line,” Maurice said.
In an email to Global News, Canadian Pacific’s media relations manager Andy Cummings wrote “The additional Saint-Jérôme train frequencies are the result of ongoing discussions between CP and exo.”
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Some users insist more work needs to be done to increase service outside of rush hour on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line.
“The last one is at 9 o’clock and I’m a student at Concordia so it’s very difficult when your class ends at 10,” said Rosi Dimegilo.
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