Rail strike would affect more than 32,000 commuters in Canada’s three biggest cities
By The Canadian Press on August 20, 2024.
MONTREAL – More than 32,000 rail commuters across the country will have to find new routes to work if there is a work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. this week. Transit authorities say select commuter lines that run on CPKC tracks in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will be suspended if dispatchers walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday alongside 3,200 other workers. The railway has said it will lock out employees unless a new contract is reached or the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference agrees to binding arbitration – a path the union has rejected. The lines affected are TransLink’s West Coast Express in the Vancouver area, Metrolinx’s Milton line and Hamilton GO station in the Greater Toronto Area, and Exo’s Candiac, Saint-Jérôme and Vaudreuil/Hudson lines in the Montreal area. TransLink says it will provide customer updates as the situation unfolds. Metrolinx is pointing riders to alternate routes and stations, while Exo says it is working “on the possibility” of alternative bus service. A phased shutdown of the networks at CPKC and Canadian National Railway Co. is already underway as the clock ticks down on negotiations between both companies and the union. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:CP, TSX:CNR) 9-8
