Service delays in Montreal's metro system are up 23 per cent over the last five years, an increase the transit corporation says is due in part to more riders.
In 2011, there were 980 service delays in the system, compared with 794 in 2006.
Equipment breakdown caused roughly half of the delays, with the remainder due to rider behaviour.
"Service has increased by 29 per cent since 2006," said Dominique Lemay, the MTC's metro director.
"So it's like a car — if we do more kilometres, we risk more problems with our car than if we do fewer. But in terms of reliability, MTC equipment overall is more reliable than in 2006."
Passengers cause frequent delays, mostly by dropping objects on the track, Lemay added.
"Just yesterday, we had a three-minute disruption for a backpack on the track. We had a five-minute disruption for a computer on the track, and we had another three-minute disruption for a wallet dropped on the tracks."
For each of those delays, metro staff have to cut power to the line and jump down on the track to retrieve the items.
The MTC is rethinking that policy, Lemay said. In the future, dropped items may just be lost to users or retrieved at the end of the day.
Until policy changes, the MTC is dispatching employees to platforms during rush hour, to remind people to stay behind the safety line — that way, if they drop personal belongings, they'll fall on the ground, not the track.
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