By Canadian Press

Rail stoppage: Montreal commuters eye alternatives as trains halted for second day

Aug 23, 2024 | 9:38 AM

MONTREAL — More than 20,000 Montreal commuters are again being forced to find alternative ways to get to work because of a work stoppage at Canada’s two biggest railways that has halted trains for a second consecutive day.

Commuter service Exo has suspended service on the Vaudreuil-Hudson, Saint-Jérôme and Candiac lines, all of which use tracks owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd.

Canada’s labour minister has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration to resolve the dispute between the Teamsters union and the two railways — Canadian National Railway Co. and CPKC — but Exo says it’s not clear when service can resume.

Karina Andone, a resident of Île-Perrot west of Montreal, figures it will take her more than two hours each way to get to and from work using a combination of her car and city buses.

She says there aren’t any shuttles planned from the station she uses and that it’s not feasible to drive all the way downtown because of heavy traffic and high parking prices.

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Exo says it will have some buses for customers up and running by Monday, but warns that it won’t have enough to fully replace the suspended train service.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press