FRAMINGHAM - Officials from Keolis, the company contracted to run the commuter rail system, are upfront about the fact they inherited a system with problems, and that there's room for improvement, especially on the Framingham and Franklin lines.

On Thursday at a meeting with the Daily News editorial board, the manager, chief transportation officer, customer services manager and communications director laid out a plan to improve the service. The plan involves infrastructure investment, streamlining technology, increasing customer interaction and taking steps to ease overcrowding at peak times.

The company hopes to bring the commuter rail system to a level of performance found in Europe, where Keolis is based, said communications director Leslie Aun.

“There's Band-Aids and then there's getting to the root causes of issues, longstanding issues,” said Aun. “What we're trying to do is look at how we bring the modernization, modern technology, that we bring as a French company.”

The company, which took over the commuter rail in 2014 from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, has finished improvements funded by an $18 million MBTA investment in the Worcester-Framingham line's infrastructure. Some of it goes toward reducing delays caused by excessive heat which affects the rails, forcing trains to slow down. In the spring, the company fixed the main set of tracks, dropping heat-related delay time from 50 minutes to less than five. In October, Keolis will fix the second set of tracks. In addition, six trains were added to the line to the line for more frequent trips.

The Worcester-Framingham line has some of the worst delay statistics in the system. In June, 57 percent of trains were on time, due to a schedule change and track work. For most of the year, on-time percentages have hovered in the range of the high 70 to mid-80 percent. Other lines, such as Boston to Fitchburg, had numbers in the high 90s to mid-80 percent. When asked if he feels the company can turn performance around, chief transportation officer Scott Treece said he's confident.

“It will change,” said Treece. He referenced the Fitchburg line, where the company used a $277 million MBTA investment to modernize infrastructure. The repairs allow trains to move along most of the line at 79 mph, whereas on the Framingham line, speeds are capped at 60 mph. The Framingham line is slated for the same kind of capital investment, Treece said. The goal is to bring speeds up to at least 70 mph.

On the Boston-Franklin line, which also sees fairly low on-time statistics (between 79 percent and 87 percent this year), the company has added three trains. In the future, possibly next year, the company hopes to work with the MBTA to add a second set of tracks in the Walpole area.

Along with the push to get trains running faster and more smoothly, Keolis is also addressing overcrowding on certain commutes. Cramped conditions on morning rush-hour trains along the Worcester-Framingham line are an immediate priority, Treece said.

“That is by far our biggest concern in the next three weeks,” he said. The 7 a.m. inbound train has eight two-level cars, enough to handle 1,400 riders, but the train sometimes carries 1,600, he said.

Before Labor Day - when officials anticipate a 10-percent surge in ridership across the system - they hope to add another car.

But, Aun said, adding a passenger car isn't as simple as one might think. The cars go through routine maintenance and cleaning, which limits the amount of time on the rails. To combat the problem, the company has added staff and weekend shifts at the main maintenance facility.

Keolis is also planning to modernize fare collection, and, in doing so, cut back on fare evasion. A survey the company conducted revealed that up to 20 percent of passengers either ride for free or pay a lesser fare.

The plan involves automated ticket gates at high-volume stations and giving riders more convenient ways to buy tickets. They hope to increase revenue by 6 percent.

Bill Shaner can be reached at 508-626-3957 or at wshaner@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bill_Shaner.