GO bus riders bracing for 4th day of disruptions amid Union Station strike
Posted April 26, 2022 7:01 am.
Last Updated April 26, 2022 10:44 am.
Bus riders who travel through Union Station are bracing for a potential fourth day of delays on Tuesday due to striking electrical workers.
Commuters trying to get to the downtown transit hub saw a third straight day of disrupted service on Monday. While the morning commute was spared, striking employees did end up blocking buses from entering and exiting the station’s bus terminal later in the day.
GO Transit Bus tweeted late Monday that service for several bus routes had resumed at 11:30 p.m.
Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins told CityNews on Monday that a “contingency plan” was put in place to re-route numerous GO buses to other transit hubs.
“We will divert to other stations so people can transfer to other stations,” said Aikins. “We’ve arranged so they wouldn’t have to pay with TTC, and they wouldn’t have to pay extra if they had to switch modes with GO Transit either.”
On Sunday, the protest started at 11 a.m. and disrupted bus service until 11:30 p.m., according to Metrolinx. The terminal was forced to shut down for most of the day as a result and the company says the disruption impacted thousands of riders and hundreds of buses.
“Our job is to make sure buses can operate safely and efficiently,” says Aikins. “Every day we will do our very best to ensure that happens again.”
She is encouraging all riders to check for service updates before taking their trip.
The 95 employees of Toronto Terminals Railway (TTR) went on strike on Wednesday. The workers are mainly responsible for signals and communication maintenance as well as train control at the Union Station rail corridor.
The workers are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union and have been without a contract since December 2019. TTR says wages have been a contentious point during the negotiations.
The union has accused the company of failing to negotiate seriously and there is not timetable for the two sides to resume talks.
Union Station is Canada’s busiest passenger transportation hub, with approximately 200,000 GO Train commuters passing through the station each day.
