GO train service is expected to be back to normal on Wednesday morning following a “network-wide system failure” brought service to a standstill on Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement provided to CP24 late Tuesday night, the provincial transportation agency said that passengers may experience “some delays and modifications as we work to move our trains and crews back into place after today’s CN outage.”
“We are committed to providing as much notice as possible to customers regarding any schedule changes but are encouraging all travellers to check our Service Updates page before heading out the door,” said Metrolinx, which thanked all customers for their “patience today as we worked with CN to resolve this major issue.
A GO train is shown stopped on a platform during a service outage on Tuesday, Oct. 3. (Bryann Aguilar)
The online outage was first reported just before 1:45 p.m. on Tueday and initially saw all GO and UP Express trains holding at their nearest station.
In a statement issued just before 8:20 p.m., CN said its internet connectivity has been restored.
The outage impacted most trains using CN rails, though the railway company said that its trains as well as those belonging to EXO trains (Montreal) and Amtrak Trains weren’t impacted.
“During the outage, CN worked with GO to temporarily take over their train dispatching responsibilities. This allowed for the partial resumption of GO and VIA services,” CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis said in a statement Tuesday night.
“GO Transit has now resumed dispatching their lines and they are working to resume their normal movements. CN will be working with GO to review the incident and put in place processes to avoid further disruptions.”
WHAT HAPPENED?
After all GO and UP Express trains stopped on Tuesday afternoon, just after 3 p.m., limited service resumed on the UP Express, followed by select GO train lines.
Just before 4:30 p.m., Metrolinx confirmed that it was “beginning to slowly resume service” and that it would prioritize getting people home from Union Station.
But it warned of “ongoing delays and cancellations” as it works to “recover rail service.”
“We are beginning to run outbound trains from Union Station about every 30 minutes. For customers travelling into Union Station tonight, service will be less frequent but should be between 30 to 60 minutes,” the statement read.
Metrolinx said that commuters should continue to consider alternative transportation methods or travel later this evening, when crowds are expected to be diminished.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the outage is continuing.
In an earlier statement, CN said that at this point it appears as though the outage resulted from an “internet connectivity and electronic data interchange issue.”
CN said that there is “no indication of a cyber security issue” at this point, though it noted that the investigation is still in its infancy.
“GO trains, VIA trains in and out of Union station, as well as CN’s customer service portal, all of which require an internet connection to CN’s servers, are currently impacted,” CN said in the statement. “CN apologizes for the issue. We are working to get all services up and running safely and efficiently.”
LARGE CROWDS REPORTED
At one point earlier on Tuesday large crowds were seen inside Union Station as commuters arrived at the rail hub for scheduled trains that had been cancelled.
One of those commuters told CP24 that he looked into getting an Uber home but opted to wait at the station for hours upon realizing it would cost him $650 due to surge pricing.
Another commuter said that she too considered taking an Uber but had to abort those plans after realizing that a one-way trip to Brampton would cost her $400.
“That’s a no go,” she said.
The TTC added 10 trains on Line 1 and five trains on Line 2 in anticipation of “heavier-than-normal passenger loads” during the afternoon rush.
It also increased service on some streetcar lines and staged extra buses at key subway stations, including Kipling, Kennedy and Dundas West.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
