Rail work stoppage shuts down some Ontario, Quebec, B.C. commuter rail lines

TORONTO –

Bewildered commuters were turned away from shuttered rail lines on Thursday as an unprecedented railway lockout upset travel plans for more than 30,000 daily riders in some of Canada’s largest cities.

Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out workers after they failed to reach a deal on a new contract before a midnight deadline, the first time there has been a simultaneous shutdown on Canada’s two largest railways. Bargaining was set to resume Thursday morning.

The lockout delivers a blow to commuter railways in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver that run on CPKC-owned lines. The impact is limited to those lines because dispatchers at CN, which hosts a greater number of passenger trains, are not part of the bargaining process and would not take part in a work stoppage.

Southern Ontario’s GO Transit halted rail service at Hamilton GO Centre and along its Milton line, sidelining a combined 8,100 customers.

Some commuters arrived Thursday morning at GO Transit stations along the Milton line, which cuts through Mississauga to Toronto’s Union Station, only to learn service had been suspended.

“This is completely unacceptable, and we should have been informed earlier,” said Om Sangekar, speaking outside the Cooksville GO station.

“I’ll definitely be late for work.”

GO Transit customer care workers stopped people on their way into the parking lot to tell them about the shutdown and alternative travel options. Shuttles were running every 30 minutes to take those at the Cooksville station to Port Credit’s GO hub, where they could catch a ride on the Lakeshore line.

Shraddha Mhatre, a commuter who arrived at the Cooksville station unaware of the stoppage, decided to work from home.

“I have some meetings scheduled in the mornings so I can’t take a chance to have any further delays,” she said.

A spokesperson for Metrolinx, the provincial agency responsible for GO Transit, said the system appeared to be moving well outside the affected line and station. Andrea Ernesaks said no station overcrowding or parking issues had been reported.

“So far, no pinch points and no significant concerns raised, but of course, we’re always monitoring very closely,” she said in an interview.

“We understand that any kind of disruption to travel can be very inconvenient for our customers, and we just thank them for their patience and apologize for the inconvenience.”

In a statement posted to social media, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the shutdown was already costing workers, transit users and businesses.

‘We cannot afford to let things get worse,” he said.

In the Montreal area, some 21,000 commuter rail passengers had travel plans upended after service was suspended on three of the Exo network’s train lines — with no alternative bus or shuttle services planned until next week.

Exo said workers would be on the ground Thursday and Friday to help orient customers. The service plans to have some shuttles available as of Monday but warned that the number of available buses was insufficient to fully replace the trains.

The shuttles would be focused on serving stations outside the Island of Montreal and at rush hour, Exo said.

“Given Exo’s limited financial and operational capacity, the proposed mitigation measures will primarily serve peak hour train travel,” the transit service said. “The frequency of the shuttles will be planned, but they will not be assigned to a specific schedule.”

In the Vancouver area, TransLink said it’s offering supplemental bus service for its suspended West Coast Express service. The transit service said more than 3,000 passengers take the line each day.

Bargaining has played out in separate negotiations between each rail company and the Teamsters, which represents 6,000 CN workers and 3,300 CPKC workers.

The Teamsters has said both companies are pushing to weaken protections around rest periods and scheduling, while CN is also seeking a scheme that would see some employees move to far-flung locations for several months at a time to fill labour gaps.

CN said it has negotiated in good faith over the past nine months, proposing serious offers with better pay, improved rest and more predictable schedules. CPKC has called for binding arbitration, saying the union has made “unrealistic demands.”

– with files from Morgan Lowrie in Montreal and Sharif Hassan in Toronto.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2024.