Riders: New rail operator needs to improve system

LYNN – “They?re already nine minutes late,” said Mark Lombard as he waited for a train on the Lynn platform Thursday and listed service improvements he thinks the commuter rail system?s new operators should make.
Like Lombard, who commutes daily from Lynn to Salem, Halley Smith of Nahant said delays on the Newburyport-Rockport to Boston rail line cut into her work time and aggravate her.
?I?m standing there asking myself, ?Should I wait? Should I drive in??” she said.
Catching a commuter train in downtown Lynn or Swampscott to Boston or points north is a major transportation option for Smith and commuters like Stephen Walnut, who said he pays $215 a month to ride commuter rail into Boston. His wife also takes the train.
Walnut said Keolis Commuter Services, the firm picked by state officials to take over commuter operations from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, needs to improve service delay notification to riders, boost train crew sizes and improve maintenance.
?I think they need to give people notice as early as possible,” Walnut said.
Now that the French firm is expected to be in the commuter rail driver?s seat starting July 1, Lombard said Keolis has a chance to review train fare structures. He would like an unlimited “short-hop” fare introduced to provide savings for riders like himself who ride the train regularly but travel only one or two stops.
?It would help me: Otherwise, I?m not saving any money,” he said.