TORONTO – The railway strike called for tomorrow, Thursday, could also have an impact on GO Train passengers. As well known, CN Rail could go on strike starting tomorrow (at the time of writing, it has not yet been revoked): the union representing the workers of Canadian Pacific Kansas City has in fact notified the strike notice of 72 in recent days hours to the railways and, barring last-minute cancellations, the strike of over 9,000 workers on the two main Canadian railways will begin immediately after midnight. 

Earlier this week, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference – the union representing workers at Canadian Pacific, Kansas City Ltd. – said it had served a strike notice on the railway, and CN Rail issued a notice announcing the lockout of its workers unless an agreement is reached or the parties turn to binding arbitration.

And in the GTA? Metrolinx said a train strike would not affect most GO Transit riders. However, GO Train service on the Milton Line would be temporarily suspended, as would GO Train service at Hamilton GO Station, while UP Express and all other GO lines would remain unaffected, Metrolinx said. “We are closely monitoring this situation and will notify our customers of any changes should a work disruption occur” Metrolinx said.

Customers using the Milton Line told CP24, today, that any disruption to service would complicate their commute. Some said they will be forced to drive, while others said they will likely try to work from home if possible. Others said they didn’t know what to do.

Metrolinx, for its part, advises customers on the Milton-corridor to consider local transit options or access GO Transit services on the Lakeshore West or Kitchener corridors as an alternative. Hamilton GO customers can use the Aldershot GO Station as an alternative or use the normally scheduled GO Bus service on Route 16.

Aside from possible inconvenience to GTA commuters, a rail strike (we repeat: if not called off by the time of this writing) would likely have a huge impact on the movement of goods across the country, as well as more than 32,000 rail commuters in Montreal, Vancouver and, precisely, Toronto, who will have to find new routes to reach the office. Indeed, transit authorities say some commuter lines running on CPKC tracks in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will be suspended.

A phased closure of networks at both CPKC and Canadian National Railway Co. is actually already underway as the clock ticks on negotiations between both companies and the union. Canadian Pacific blocked virtually all new shipments as early as Tuesday morning, while CN did the same thing today to avoid leaving goods stranded on the tracks. Goods which, many fear, will not arrive on supermarket shelves for several days. And there are already those who have started stocking up…

Photo by Liza Trinidad from Pixabay