Impending strike...again

Well, it looks as if VIA Rail may be faced with a strike for the second summer in a row. The Canadian Auto Workers union (who represent VIA ticket sales and maintenance) has voted to strike if a new agreement with VIA cannot be reached.

News article from CBC here:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/ ... -vote.html

This may not bode well for those of us with summer travel plans!

I have my fingers crossed that this gets resolved soon.

For those of you with upcoming travel plans, this is likely of some concern. VIA has released notice about their intentions, should a strike ensue. Limited train service will occur on all routes, although with only economy class offered and no checked baggage. Many stations will not be open for service. There is a full schedule on their website of which trains will be operating, and when:

http://www.viarail.ca/en/strike-notice? ... 36&fr=6986


I am supposed to be travelling from Truro NS to Brockville ON on July 2nd, so you can imagine a potential striked on June 28th is not a very happy thought. Yes, there is still limited service, but that train will run on the Sunday two days later only, an adjustment I cannot make to my schedule. Although that is confusing...it says Train 15 from Halifax operates on Sunday, but it's connecting train from Montreal to Toronto (57) also operates on Sunday only...does this then mean that 15 leaves Halifax on Saturday in fact? Like many others I'm sure, I'm really hoping VIA and the CAW get things sorted asap. For now, I'm not changing any reservation, and I'm just going to wait it out...at least until after the strike date :S

An agreement has been reached between VIA Rail and the CAW averting a possible strike...
http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail ... -agreement