Montreal commuter lines halted by rail shutdown have resumed service: Exo

MONTREAL – Greater Montreal riders returned to their regular commute Monday as service resumed on the Exo transit system following an end to the work stoppage by Canada’s two major railways.
Exo spokeswoman Catherine Maurice said that service on its Candiac, St-Jérôme and Vaudreuil/Hudson lines returned to their regular schedule after coming to an abrupt halt Thursday morning and catching many commuters by surprise.
Maurice said in an email Monday the transit organization is satisfied with the resumption of service.
She said bus shuttle service would continue Monday in order to handle “any issues that may arise” for the routes’ 21,000 daily riders.
Maurice said Exo expects congestion on the tracks amid the operations ramp-up by Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City in the coming days, depending on the priority given to passenger trains.
Select commuter lines in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver came to a standstill last week after the rail companies locked out 9,300 employees, including Canadian Pacific dispatchers who direct traffic on tracks owned by that company but used by commuter trains.
On Saturday, the federal labour board ordered railways to resume operations and employees to go back on the job starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday morning ahead of binding arbitration, which will aim to resolve a labour impasse that led to the shutdown.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2024.