‘A very tough time to be a GO rider:’ Metrolinx CEO apologizes for week of delays

The CEO of Metrolinx is apologizing for a week of delays on the busy commuter service following a derailment near Union Station Monday.

The head of Metrolinx is apologizing for a week of delays on the busy commuter service following a derailment near Union Station Monday.

“I want to start by offering my apologies to everybody who is a GO rider and I’m one myself,” Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay told reporters at a news conference Friday.

“We pride ourselves on providing a better than 90 per cent on-time service with high customer satisfaction to a quarter of a million people each and every day. And I know that the last two weeks have been a very tough time to be a GO rider.”

Lindsay also addressed criticism that the service has done a poor job of communicating with the public, refusing to put anyone on-camera to speak to the problems.

“We’ve been trying to communicate to the best of our ability throughout this entire week and our focus has obviously been first and foremost to repair and to recover from the incident that we had on Monday,” Lindsay said.

He later acknowledged “we could always do better” and promised the service will try to be as transparent as possible.

But speaking at a news conference et Queen’s Park Friday, Liberal MPP Rob Cerjanec said the poor communication is part of a pattern over the past few years.

“There used to be a time when Metrolinx was able to communicate clearly and openly. It built trust with transit riders,” Cerjanec said. “But over the last few years, that’s changed. We’ve seen the premier’s office control what Metrolinx says and does, and it’s up to the premier to answer to that.”

He noted that while Lindsay posted a few updates on LinkedIn, MPPs were not even able to get answers from Metrolinx.

Commuters this week reported crowding, delays and poor communication as they tried to use the system.

Cerjanec said he’s calling for Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria to review Metrolinx’s communication protocols for major disruptions.

“Major disruptions cannot always be predicted. What people don’t accept is being left in the dark when they rely on public transit to get to work or home or to their family safely,” he said. “Clear, honest and timely communication, must be treated as an essential part of service delivery.”