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Sarah Wright-Gilbert, a citizen member of the city’s transit commission, said communication surrounding delays has been a persistent issue for OC Transpo.

“It’s not good, to be honest,” she said in an interview.

She said it’s time for the transit system to work harder at keeping LRT passengers informed whenever things go wrong.

Wright-Gilbert said LRT service is usually “incredible” for her daily commute across the full length of Line 1. But she said passengers are too often left in the dark if there is a delay.

In September she was stuck on a stopped train “with absolutely no information from OC Transpo on Twitter.” (Transpo has since beefed up its use of the OCTranspoLive Twitter feed.)

Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia

She was delayed again this Monday, and the train operators “were giving only very generic information — ‘We are experiencing delays. We should be going in a couple of minutes’.” Eventually passengers were told to get off, and no one in Cyrville station could tell her what was happening either.

“And that’s my concern, when the rail operator is telling me one thing and then I’m getting zero information from the people who are the face of OC Transpo on the platform … And it’s not his fault. He didn’t have the information,” she said.

The PA told her there was a delay. The displays said the trains were “held.” That was all.

Wright-Gilbert was also disturbed by the contrast between the Sept. 17 “sit rep” and an email that general manager John Manconi wrote to Ottawa councillors the same day. She says the email “glossed over” problems that commissioners should have been told about.