A man allegedly spat in the face of a GO Transit train engineer Tuesday night, a Metrolinx spokesperson says.

The incident happened at Allandale Waterfront station in Barrie, Anne Marie Aikins told CBC News.

"It's a really humiliating kind of thing to happen to our staff, and during a pandemic it's just that much more disgusting," she said.

A man had gotten "gotten a little belligerent with one of our train engineers as he was walking through the train," Aikins said, before he "allegedly spit in his face."

Barrie police spokesperson Peter Leon told CBC News that the engineer was checking the train to make sure it was empty, when he came across two passengers who had fallen asleep.

He woke them up, and that's when the man spat on him, Leon said. The other person got off the train without incident.

Spitting constitutes an assault under the criminal code, Leon said.

The engineer went to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre to get checked out, Aikins said, and is now off for a few days and watching for any symptoms of illness.

"We have no idea of the health" of the man who spat on the engineer, she said.

Transit safety officers are now working to get security camera footage to assist police.

"Hopefully the man will be able to be charged," she said.

Incidents of crime and vandalism are rising on GO Transit buses and trains, Aikins said — even though ridership has plummeted 90 per cent as many people stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Metrolinx says ridership on its bus and rail network is now down to approximately 33,000 people per day, which marks a steep drop off.

Prior to the pandemic, daily ridership on GO Transit was approximately 330,000 people.

Revenue has also plunged for the agency, down to $1.1 million a week from $11 million weekly prior to the pandemic.

Customers amount to Metrolinx's "eyes and ears," Aikins said, and help discourage people from behaving badly.

"Now there are not many eyes out there, so it's not unusual for crime to flourish under those circumstances," she said, adding that transit safety officers are "exceptionally busy out there."

adam.carter@cbc.ca