Angry commuters vent frustrations over GO Transit delays on Kitchener line

A broken down locomotive on the Kitchener GO train line Monday morning led to a "pretty significant cascade effect of delays" for commuters, a Metrolinx spokesperson says.

GO Transit tweeted there was an equipment issue west of Acton.

"Crews are on site fixing [the] problem. Passengers [between] Kitchener and Georgetown will have extensive delays. Passengers between Georgetown and Union will have delays up to 20 minutes," the tweet said.

Matt Llewellyn, a spokesperson for Metrolinx, said the problem Monday morning was a mechanical issue in a locomotive. The locomotive had to be pushed by another train to the Acton GO station, where passengers were able to get off and board a new train.

Llewellyn said the problem occurred "in a pretty tricky spot" in the network, because it is part of the single-track Kitchener line that is owned by CN.

He noted other lines, such as the Lakeshore line, which Metrolinx owns, has three tracks to help trains move around problem areas.

"So when there is a type of issue like we saw this morning on the Kitchener line, those trains on other corridors are able to bypass any trains that are having any mechanical issues," Llewellyn said.

"We apologize to our customers. We know this isn't the type of service that they expect. This was an unforeseen mechanical issue."

'Folks can't wait'

The equipment problems are frustrating for commuters with many of them taking to Twitter. But some riders say changes to the schedule and shorter trains have led to massive overcrowding on the morning commute.