The unprecedented work stoppage by CN and CPKC has paralyzed exo’s commuter trains. Lines 11 (Vaudreuil/Hudon), 12 (Saint-Jérôme) and 14 (Candiac) are completely at a standstill Thursday morning, complicating the travel of thousands of workers to downtown Montreal.
“There’s no shuttle or anything like that?” Nicolas Pinzon wonders, when he learned directly at Lachine station this morning that his train would not be running due to the lockout.
“I’m going to be late, the bus will take me longer…”
Same bad morning for Majgan Hosseini. “I’ll have to use the car then, but I don’t like that, there’s roadworks everywhere.”
Emma Kerdela also came up against the lack of a train. “I’m going to my graduation ceremony in the city center.”
Yue Wang was expected at a meeting in the city center. She was going to be late. “And I don’t like driving in traffic.”
The vast majority of users were aware of the possibility of a strike – through the news or through transport applications – and did not show up at their usual station.
Today and tomorrow, no alternative solution is offered and users must find another means of transport themselves.
Trains on lines 13 (Mont-Saint-Hilaire) and 15 (Mascouche) continue to run.
Visit the exo website to plan your trips
“A tactical unit has been set up with all the departments to develop a contingency plan,” assures the exo transporter, which will set up an alternative bus service from Monday, August 26.
“The bus shuttles that will be offered will not be able to compensate for the entire service on the three affected train lines,” exo adds, “and we recommend that users plan alternative journeys on existing regular services using the exo Journey Planner, while unchecking the “train” option.”
Lines 11 (Vaudreuil/Hudson), 12 (Saint-Jérôme) and 14 (Candiac) transport an average of 21,200 passengers daily.
The labour dispute does not affect ViaRail’s connections in Quebec.
In Ottawa, the office of Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he is holding more meetings to assess the options available to the Trudeau government.
“Minister MacKinnon is in meetings throughout the day on this extremely important situation and is following the matter closely,” his office said in an email to The Press.
With the collaboration of Joël-Denis Bellavance, The Press