Montreal's metro system could hit a record this year for service interruptions.
La Presse reports a 31% increase in metro stoppages so far this year compared to last - so about an average of three a day between January and August.
François Pépin, chairman of the board for the public transit lobby group Trajectoire Quebec said it may be worriesome for transit users but added he accepts the STM's explanation that there are still growing pains with the new Azur trains and that their trains are rolling more frequently, resulting in more risks for problems.
"It's a little bit normal," said Pépin in an interview with CJAD 800 News.
But he said he finds it strange that the STM is saying more people are using the metro so there are possibly more problems related to people dropping things on the tracks or walking on the rails.
"But still the problems with the train are up 44% so the main problem is still the train, it's not really the customers," said Pépin.
On the whole, Pépin said the STM is doing about average on par with their North American counterparts but that there is always room for improvement.
"They still have to work on their day-to-day operations and maintenance so there'll be less problems on the network," said Pépin.
The STM declined to be interviewed.