MONTREAL - Exo has reconsidered its position after locking a bathroom at Lucien-L'Allier train station and making Montrealers sign up online.
Exo, Montreal's inter-urban train provider, said the policy was a compromise with Canadian Pacific (CP), who owns the station.
In July, CP shut down the bathrooms citing sanitary and security reasons, according to Exo spokesperson Louis-André Bertrand.
"We were aware that our commuters need to use the bathroom and so we installed a system that allowed train riders to register their OPUS cards to use [them]," he said.
The policy was in place as of mid-August and thousands of commuters signed up, according to Exo.
Bathroom users had to register, after which they use their OPUS cards to enter, Bertrand said.
A sign at the station noted that those who register online may have to wait up to five days to receive access to the bathroom.
But after some media attention this week, Exo officials said they've changed their minds.
"Since Friday, a security agent has been temporarily hired to grant access to the facilities while CP continues its reflection process about the future of the bathrooms," said Bertrand in a statement, adding "We'd also like to remind riders that the trains on the Vaudreuil-Hudson and St-Jerome lines are equipped with bathrooms."
While CTV News visited on Friday, the security cameras were shifted toward the bathroom doors and security was present.
Crohn's and Colitis Canada is concerned, too. One of their supporters is Cote-Saint-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, who's passionate about public access to restrooms.
"I've had Crohn's since I was 14 years old, and I can say when you need a bathroom, you need a bathroom and for the public bathrooms or a bathroom that's part of the transit system, it has to be available for people when they need it," he said.
