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Montreal’s commuter train authority is preparing alternate bus services for three train lines that could be affected by a looming strike at Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway.
The union representing thousands of workers at CPKC has given a strike notice and are set to walk out on Thursday at 12:01 a.m.
The CPKC rail network is used by three Exo train lines — Vaudreuil/Hudson, St-Jérôme and Candiac.
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“If a strike or a lockout is declared and the CPKC rail traffic controllers are a part of it, none of (those) three lines will be in operation,” said Exo spokesperson Eric Edström.
Details about the alternate bus routes are to be made public in the coming days.
“We are confident that we will be able to deploy several bus shuttles as early as Monday, Aug. 26,” Edström said.
However, “the bus shuttles … will not be able to replace the entire service of the three affected train lines, especially during the back-to-school period.”
He said Exo’s “efforts will be focused on providing service during rush hour.”
The authority is urging train users to explore alternative routes using Exo’s regular bus service or the services of the Société de transport de Montréal and Société de transport de Laval.
Commuters can consult Exo’s online trip planner at exo.quebec/en/trip-planner. They should uncheck the train option when using the planner.
A strike is also on the horizon for Canadian National, with the company warning that it may lock out workers as of Thursday.
But Edström said that labour dispute is not expected to affect two Exo lines that use CN tracks — Mont-St-Hilaire and Mascouche.
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CN authorities have told Exo that commuter trains running on the CN network would not be affected by a strike, he said.
That’s because CN rail traffic controllers are not among the trades affected by the dispute, Edström said.
Commuters took more than 6.1 million trips on Exo trains in 2023. Exo’s two busiest lines — Vaudreuil/Hudson and St-Jérôme — accounted for 70 per cent of rides.
CPKC also owns rail infrastructure used by Via Rail intercity trains.
In a statement to The Gazette, the national passenger rail service said a CPKC strike would compel it to suspend service between Sudbury and White River in Ontario.
Via said it’s currently working with CPKC to maintain access to a one-kilometre section of CPKC tracks in Smiths Falls used by Via’s Ottawa-Toronto train.
No other Via services would be affected by a CPKC strike, Via said.
Via said a work stoppage at CN would not affect its operations.
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