MBTA Commuter Rail to take questions in a Reddit AMA

The Commuter Rail is taking to Reddit this week to answer riders’ questions in an “ask me anything” Q+A.

Top brass from Keolis Commuter Services, which runs the rail, will be taking queries on the site from 2-4 p.m. on Wednesday, a company spokesman confirmed for Metro. General Manager Gerald Francis, deputy GM Franck Dubourdieu and others from the Keolis management team plan to be on hand to chime in.

“Ask me anything”sessions, also known as AMA’s, let users post questions in online threads, to be answered in real time.

President Barack Obama and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh have both done them.

Earlier this year, an anonymous MBTA bus driver was featured in an AMA, answering queries on everything from T management and unruly passengers to how much drivers like it when you say “thanks.”

Keolis spokesman Mac Daniel told Metro that the company’s customer service team came up with the idea to host an AMA of its own, and that Keolis sees it as an extension of its “Meet the Managers”events in T stations, which it has held a few times a year since it took over the rail in 2014.

“Passengers are our customers. We want them to feel they have a voice, whether it be complaints or praise,” Daniel said in an email. “We can’t improve service and reliability without talking to our passengers. They experience the system’s faults first-hand and we value their input.”

There is a lot to discuss. T officials have floated the possibility of cutting commuter rail service on the weekend. A decision is coming soon on a fare increase in 2016. A commuter rail schedule change set to take effect in late 2015 was recently delayed after it was met with opposition from lawmakers and riders.

And of course, all eyes are on the MBTA as winter approaches after last year’s T-snarling snowfall.

By Sunday, anticipation was in the air among Reddit commenters.

“I take the commuter rail every day. And it’s both my savior and living nightmare at the same time. Should be interesting,” wrote one user going by username MrFusionHER.

Said another, with username jax12007: “This is a dumpster fire waiting to happen.”

Some commenters raised concerns because the AMA is scheduled to happen when many commuters are at work.

Daniel, the Keolis spokesman, said the thread would be open for questions both before and after the 2-4 p.m. window.

“We’ll check the thread after and try to answer some stray questions where possible,” he told Metro.