Metrolinx cancels transit routes again after vaccination policy leaves agency short-staffed

A bus driver disembarks a GO Transit bus at the new Union Station Bus Terminal in Toronto on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Evan Buhler

TORONTO -

Metrolinx announced certain GO Transit routes will be temporarily impacted by staffing shortages that follow their mandatory vaccination policy coming into place on Nov. 1.

Over the next week, Metrolinx said it is cancelling 84 of their 1,400 GO Transit bus trips and between four and six daily train trips.

“Metrolinx had hoped to avoid service impacts, but the loss of staff – approximately 150 employees – has resulted in the cancellation of a limited number of GO Transit bus and train trips,” Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said in a statement released on Monday.

This follows the cancellation of 89 bus trips in the Toronto and Hamilton areas on Nov. 1, when the transit agency first began placing unvaccinated or undeclared staff on unpaid leave.

“In transit, like all parts of life, there is a cause and effect,” Aikins said.

Routes with low ridership were specifically selected for cancellation and Aikins said passengers will always have alternative train options. No first and last trips have been cancelled.

Metrolinx said more than 97 per cent of their staff have reported that they are fully vaccinated.