Exo warns that lines 11, 12 and 14 could be affected by the rail strike that is expected to begin this Thursday. Affected passengers are encouraged to consider a plan B to get around.
Exo confirmed to The Press that several of its commuter train lines could be affected by the strike announced Sunday by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the union representing thousands of workers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Railway. This strike could paralyze a large part of the Canadian rail network as early as 00:01 on Thursday. A lockout notice has also been issued by the CPKC for the same date.
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If a work stoppage is confirmed, this could have consequences for the operations of the three train lines that run on the CPKC rail network.
Eric Edström, media relations advisor at exo
The lines affected are 11 (Vaudreuil/Hudson), 12 (Saint-Jérôme) and 14 (Candiac).
Exo trains running on the Canadian National (CN) network will not be affected, however, as CN rail controllers are not part of the trades affected by this conflict. Lines 13 (Mont-Saint-Hilaire) and 15 (Mascouche) will therefore continue to operate “normally,” assures Eric Edström.
Alternative services
“Our teams are already working on setting up alternative bus services in the event of a service disruption on the affected commuter trains,” says Edström, assuring that exo’s efforts will focus on peak periods.
But “the bus shuttles that will be offered will not be able to compensate for the entire service of the three affected train lines, especially in the middle of the school year,” he emphasizes. “We recommend that affected customers start thinking about an alternative route using the regular exo bus service or those of the STL and STM.”