Getting in and out of Montreal by train was difficult for tens of thousands of commuters Thursday as a bitter labour dispute led to a historic Canada-wide freight rail shutdown.
Exo, the regional train authority, says three of its lines serving 21,000 daily users are shuttered as result. The Candiac, Saint-Jérôme and Vaudreuil-Hudson lines in the Montreal area are off limits until further notice.
In notices on its website, Exo directed customers to regular service alternatives such as the bus and Metro. Some shuttle bus services will be available starting Monday if the railway stoppage drags on.
Train users may need to find alternative ways to and from Montreal though because Exo warned those shuttles “will not be able to compensate for all the interrupted service.”
Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 workers after they failed to reach a deal on a new contract before a midnight deadline. Wages and scheduling are key sticking points in negotiations.
It marks the first time there has been a simultaneous shutdown on the country’s two largest railways, with disruptions expected for both the supply chain and passenger trains.
The lockout is impacting commuter trains in major cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver that run on CPKC-owned lines.
Exo said its two other train lines in the Montreal area, the Mont-Saint-Hilaire and Mascouche lines, are not affected as they use the CN network.
— with files from Global’s Brayden Jagger Haines and The Canadian Press