Rail strike would affect more than 32,000 commuters in Canada’s three biggest cities
Transit authorities say select commuter lines that run on Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) tracks in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will be suspended if dispatchers walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday.
More than 32,000 rail commuters across the country will have to find new routes to the office if a work stoppage kicks off at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. CP-T this week.
Transit authorities say select commuter lines that run on CPKC tracks in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will be suspended should dispatchers walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. EDT 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 Teamsters have also issued a 72-hour strike notice, set to kick in a minute after midnight Thursday.
A phased shutdown of the networks at CPKC and Canadian National Railway Co. CNR-T is already underway as the clock ticks down on negotiations between both companies and the union. Canadian Pacific barred virtually all new shipments on Tuesday morning, with CN planning to do the same Wednesday.
The commuter lines affected by the potential work stoppage 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-Jerome and Vaudreuil/Hudson lines in the Montreal area.
