Ah, that's some interesting news! I don't recall reading that here before.
So it'll be going to Bombardier crews then? Whew, gotta keep up that hiring.
It was mentioned a while back but I don't blame you for not noticing it since many of the threads here have become more rife with speculation and off-topic discussions. Not that I mind it that much, I just wish that it could all be properly categorized into separate threads so we don't lose sight of the topic(s) on hand.
Hunter Harrison, CP's CEO, decided a long time ago(when he took over in 2012) that CP wasn't going to be in the passenger train business anymore since it wasn't profitable enough for him and the shareholders. Since then they've dropped not only the Milton contract, but Vancouver's west coast express prior to that
and in 2016 they will no longer have Montreal's AMT contract. For more details on that see here;
http://cpeast.teamsterscanada.ca/20...ity-cut-costs-improve-timetables-three-lines/
I should add that GO & AMT were both looking for a cheaper and more flexible operator, so their parting from CP was/will be mutual, not sure about the west coast express though. GO has become increasingly frustrated will CP's lackluster quality of service especially in contrast to that provided by Bombardier on all the other lines and they're always looking for contract unification. Just in the last few weeks alone there have been multiple Milton train cancellations.
Operations of the small service that is the west coast express was taken over by Bombardier last year, but the new provider for CP's 3 lines on the AMT has yet to be decided. Train operations for ATM's 3 other lines, including the new one, are provided by CN. Bombardier will of course be in the biding as always.
Bombardier is gaining new contracts like that all the time across the world including in north America. The crews they use for each new service are almost entirely provided by local service(s). The vast majority are usually people who were already running the trains for the previous provider or from other local railroads, though that's not always the case. For GO most(about 55-60% front end crew) of the new people were hired "off the street" meaning no prior experience in the industry. But this was largely because of the vast size of GO's service compared to most other NA commuter services
and because CN used punitive measures to prevent more people from leaving when Bombardier took over in 2007. New openings are non the less always advertised in Toronto. There's no need to get too worried though. For instance the total amount of people that transferred over last year to BC's west coast express was zero. Prior to that Bombardier took over Orlando's commuter service and the total transferred was one(afaik). If Bombardier takes over AMT's contract, which is not assured yet, Montreal would obviously result in the largest drain by far. Since not only is it close, but there are many bilingual people in the service currently. But that is something to worry for in 2016.
As for the Milton line, the Bombardier crews have all already been assigned - 8 engineers & 8 conductors(no CSA's). Some of whom have been training for months now hence all the train spotting on the weekend going back into the fall time on the Milton line. While the crewing requirements maybe less(2 per train vs 3), it is offset by the fact that the those trains cannot be operated this way on any other line. At least not without adding a CSA upon arrival at union station, which certainly wouldn't be a normal or regular occurrence. Meaning they won't be using those trains for any other flips after they completed their Milton run unlike many other out post lines where crews will do additional flips on other lines after their initial one. Plus the CSA is the easiest position to fill, they keep on hiring bunches of them all the time. It was simply a cost saving measure.
