West Coast Express will run Monday after rail employees ordered back to work

In what will come as a relief for many commuters in the Lower Mainland, the West Coast Express will be back up and running Monday after rail workers were ordered back to work following a country-wide shutdown.

The West Coast Express, a commuter train that runs between Mission, B.C., and downtown Vancouver in the mornings and evenings each weekday, was halted on Thursday and Friday, because it runs on Canadian Pacific Kansas City tracks and needs the company’s traffic controllers to run the trains.

TransLink says the West Coast Express will run on its normal schedule starting Monday, but warns that service may be delayed due to a backlog in freight traffic.

On Saturday, the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruled employees must return to work by 12:01 a.m. Monday and imposed binding arbitration for all parties involved, which includes CPKC and Canadian National Railway—ending the work stoppage that was in effect at both companies simultaneously for the first time in Canadian history.

While CPKC and CN railways will be back up and running Monday, and affected commuter rails, like the West Coast Express, will resume operation, the Teamsters union representing about 9,300 workers at both companies has said it will appeal the ruling in court.