GO Trains expected to start up again for Mississauga and Milton commuters

The federal government has stepped in to stop the labour dispute between Canada’s largest railways and its workers.

Late this afternoon, Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon announced he is ordering an end to the work stoppage and will send the parties to arbitration where a new contract will be settled.

This means service could soon be up and running again for those who use the Milton GO Train line that has several stops in Mississauga.

However, there is no official word yet on when workers will report back to their jobs and when GO Transit is prepared to get their service operational again.

GO Transit has indicated there will be no service Friday (Aug. 23) on the Milton line, but it is expected the trains will be running again as early as next week.

“We are aware of the announcement by Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon and will communicate service impacts to your affected services as more information becomes available,” said Go Transit in a message posted on its website. “At this time, we can confirm there will be no train service on the Milton line or at Hamilton GO station on Friday, Aug. 23.”

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The announcement by MacKinnon comes less than 24 hours after both Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National Railway locked out workers after failing to reach a collective agreement with the union, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.

The labour dispute has affected the Milton GO station as well as Mississauga stations Lisgar, Meadowvale, Streetsville, Erindale, Cooksville and Dixie. The Hamilton GO station has also been closed.

The lockout began early this morning forcing Milton and Mississauga commuters to find alternative modes of transportation to find their way to work. These same commuters also had to find a way to get back home this evening.

The Milton line has been affected by the work stoppage because of shared operations between GO Transit and Canadian Pacific Kansas City along that route.