National rail shutdown leaves Montreal commuters scrambling to find alternative transporation

Reports that Ottawa was set to intervene in a labour dispute that has brought Canada's two largest railways to a standstill was little comfort for the commuters who were left scrambling Thursday morning.

Late in the afternoon, federal labour minister Steven MacKinnon announced he was invoking powers under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to force all parties into binding arbitration.

Instead of taking the rails, commuters were on the roads.

Members of the Teamsters union were in front of CN's Montreal headquarters Thursday morning as 9,300 workers were locked out after months of discussions failed to bring a deal.

"This is not a strike. It's a lockout and they are the ones who decided to put us on the street," said Teamsters Canada President François Laporte.

CN says it has been negotiating in good faith. After a work stoppage at the port last year, there are renewed concerns about supply chains, according to Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement.

"The two parties know really, really well that it's absolutely essential to come to an agreement," Duclos said.

The shutdown marks the first-ever simultaneous work stoppage at Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City. Affected industries include agriculture, mining, energy, retail, automaking and construction.

On top of the $1 billion worth of goods that are transported every day, the strike is affecting around 32,000 commuters in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. 

While Exo said the morning rush hour went well, the bigger concern is next week when school is back in session. It's also when dedicated shuttle buses will be leaving from train stations.

Anyone who needs more information on the shuttle service can visit the Exo website. 

"For the Candiac line, the buses will go to the REM. It's the quickest way to go downtown. For the Vaudreuil-Hudson line, those buses will go to Côte-Vertu for the metro. For the Saint-Jérôme line, it's the Cartier station," said Exo spokesperson Catherine Maurice.

But passengers will now have to fight traffic.

"One train can accommodate 1,000 people. So, yes, it's going to take more time," Maurice added.

With no word on how long negotiations will take, passengers will now have to adjust their commute.

"The police told me there was no train for me and I was, like, 'What?' This is my first time. What happened?" one commuter told CTV News.