December 14th, 2024

GO Transit trains, UP Express halted due to CN Rail ‘network-wide system failure’

By Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press on October 3, 2023.

The first GO Transit MP40 locomotive arrives at the platform in Toronto, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008. All GO Transit trains are reporting a network-wide system failure. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Commuters across the Greater Toronto Area saw their afternoon rush-hour travel thrown into chaos Tuesday after a network-wide system failure at CN Rail halted all GO Transit trains, as well as a rail link to Toronto’s main airport.

At around 4:30 p.m. – three and a half hours after the problems began – GO Transit said “limited service” from downtown Toronto’s Union Station was resuming, with outbound trains every 30 minutes.

“There is an ongoing CN networkwide system failure that is affecting all of our rail corridors. We are beginning to slowly resume service,” Metrolinx, which operates GO Transit, wrote in a statement.

“As we work with our rail partner on this issue and restore full service, there will be continued cancellations and potentially delays this evening.”

The regional transit operator warned commuters that available trains were expected to be “very busy” and suggested exploring alternatives.

At Toronto’s Union Station, display boards carried a uniform message in yellow font for virtually all service lines during the height of the outage: “Wait/Attendez.”

Karen Perez was heading back to Markham, Ont., when she found herself on a platform without a train.

“There’s no other way to get home,” the accountant said. “I thought maybe they would have said, ‘the bus is an alternative.’ But they’re not saying that. They’re just saying, ‘Find another way home.'”

Perez said she was mulling an $80 Uber ride to get there, but was waiting to see how her fellow commuters responded.

“None of us know what to do,” she said. “We’re just looking forlornly.”

Metrolinx said the CN Rail system failure, which began around 1 p.m., had affected all its rail corridors.

GO trains were held for hours at their nearest station ““ Go Transit said the trains weren’t moving because signals could not be given to them.

Via Rail trains routed through Toronto’s Union Station were also affected, as was the UP Express, which connects the downtown core to Pearson International Airport.

The UP Express said late Tuesday afternoon that it had resumed limited service, with delays and cancellations expected. Via Rail said some passengers would “experience delays.”

CN Rail said late Tuesday afternoon that it was experiencing “an internet connectivity and electronic data interchange issue.” The Montreal-based company apologized for the problem, and said it was working to get all services up and running.

“While there is no indication of a cybersecurity issue, the cause of the outage is currently under investigation,” it wrote.

CN trains, EXO commuter trains in Montreal and Amtrak trains in the U.S. were all in operation, the rail operator said. CN’s website appeared to be offline for several hours Tuesday afternoon.

Two railway sources, who were not authorized to speak on the record, told The Canadian Press that after CN’s computerized signal system went down, a handful of rail traffic controllers were issuing orders by pen and paper that were then sent out to conductors via radio to move trains to stations or other safe areas of track, where they were halted.

– with files from Tara Deschamps

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CNR)

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