West Coast Express will resume its normal timetable this week from Monday 26 August.
The announcement came from TransLink early Sunday afternoon, after the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered binding arbitration, days after the start of industrial action affecting both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City.
The unprecedented work stoppage at CN and CPKC resulted in a halt in freight deliveries and disruptions to commuter traffic across the country starting Thursday.
CPKC workers – members of the Teamsters union that represents employees at both companies – began a strike to coincide with the lockout going into effect early Thursday morning. The rail yards were still closed Saturday. CN lifted its lockout on Thursday and rail freight service resumed Friday morning.
Following the decision of the Federal Labor Authority on Saturday, thousands of railway employees must return to their jobs and freight trains must start rolling again by Monday morning at the latest.
Because the West Coast Express (WCE) – which picks up commuters in Mission, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows every weekday morning and transports them to Vancouver and back – runs on CPKC’s own rail line, operations would not be possible without CPKC’s dispatchers and rail workers.
For this reason, rail service was suspended late last week and replaced instead by buses that transport commuters from the three eastern WCE stops to the Coquitlam SkyTrain station in the morning and run in the opposite direction for the trip home in the afternoon.
Although WCE service is scheduled to resume Monday morning, TransLink is warning commuters that delays may occur due to freight backlogs.
RELATED TOPICS: Labor court orders rail workers to return as Teamsters seek appeal
– with files from Canadian Press
