(Bloomberg) -- Workers in Canada’s largest cities may have a more difficult commute starting Thursday, as the country’s two largest railways are set to shut down if a deal isn’t reached between the companies and the union.
Several Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal commuter trains use Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. tracks. If the lockout goes ahead, local transit agencies say there will be service disruptions to passenger rail on the Canadian Pacific tracks they use.
Toronto is home to the country’s financial center, with many workers commuting from nearby areas on regional GO trains. But during a rail strike, service on the Milton line and at the Hamilton GO station would be suspended, the Metrolinx transit agency said.
Vancouver’s West Coast Express trains move more than 3,000 people in and out of the city daily. All of these trips would be suspended in the event of a strike, as they run on Canadian Pacific tracks and rely on their dispatchers, the region’s transit authority TransLink said.
In Montreal, three Exo commuter train lines to the surrounding suburbs would be impacted by a strike. The region plans to run shuttle buses as a replacement, but the city’s transit agency said that won’t be enough.
“The train is an efficient mode of transport for moving up to a thousand people per trip over long distances, in comfort and without encountering road congestion,” Exo spokesman Eric Edström said in an email.
As for Canada’s national passenger rail system, Via Rail, some service would be disrupted as well. An over 480-kilometer (300 mile) route in northern Ontario that runs through Sudbury would have all service suspended during a strike, the agency said.
Via Rail said it plans to continue its Ottawa to Toronto train during a labor stoppage, but that it’s still working with Canadian Pacific to maintain access to a kilometer of tracks along the route.
Commuter trains running on Canadian National tracks will continue to operate, as those rail traffic controllers are not a part of this labor dispute. Both CN and Canadian Pacific have issued lockout notices to a union representing more than 9,000 workers that are set to take effect Thursday.
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