Service shutdowns on several Exo commuter lines due to national rail strike

Exo has suspended certain commuter lines after Canada’s major railways locked out 9,300 workers on Thursday.

This comes after they failed to agree on a new contract before the 12:01 a.m. EDT deadline.

According to Exo, service on Line 11 (Vaudreuil/Hudson), Line 12 (Saint-Jérôme) and Line 14 (Candiac) has been halted, but Lines 13 (Mont-Saint-Hilaire) and 15 (Mascouche) have not been affected.

“The bus shuttles that will be proposed will not be able to replace the entire service of the three affected train lines, especially during the back-to-school period,” said Exo Spokesperson Eric Edström. “We are confident that we will be able to deploy several bus shuttles as early as Monday, August 26. Our efforts will be focused on providing service during rush hour.”

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Due to the work stoppage, more than 32,000 rail commuters across the country will have to find new routes to work.

Canadian Pacific barred virtually all new shipments on Tuesday morning, and CN did the same Wednesday to avoid leaving any goods stranded on the tracks.

Industries hit hardest by the stoppage include agriculture, mining, energy, retail, automaking and construction.

-with files from The Canadian Press