The French company Keolis, which runs Massachusetts' commuter rail service, was slammed with a hefty fine by the MBTA for late-arriving and dirty trains.
Keolis will pay $1.6 million for its poor train performance in Nov. and Dec.of 2014, based on information released by the MBTA on Friday. They were hit with an $868,850 penalty in Nov. and a $760,175 penalty in Dec. Nearly half of the fines levied against Keolis stem from cleanliness issues.
84.37% of the trains ran on time in Nov., according to the MBTA. 89.92% of the trains ran on time in Dec.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo says the T will continue to work with Keolis despite the poor performance.
“While certain indicators are trending in the right direction, the penalties make it clear that there is much room for improvement,” Pesaturo told the Boston Globe.
In a statement released by the company, Keolis pledged to direct their future focus on becoming a more reliable partner to the MBTA.
“Keolis is focused on improving the reliability of MBTA commuter rail and we remain committed to the MBTA and our passengers. We are seeing increases in on-time reliability system wide and will continue to work on all levels to strengthen that performance," the statement read.
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Keolis assumed management of the commuter rail service back in July.
