It's business as usual for Tri-Cities commuters who use the West Coast Express.

With a strike looming today (Wednesday), CP Rail and its employees agreed to keep trains running in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

The two sides reportedly reached an agreement Tuesday afternoon at the urging of the federal labour minister.

CP Rail engineers, conductors and train control operators all help operate the West Coast Express.

A strike by the rail company's employees could have effectively shut down the train service, leaving several thousand commuters looking for an alternative way to get to work.

The threat of a looming disruption had the BC Rapid Transit Company, which runs the train, scrambling to make alternate plans.

BCRTC officials said they had been working with CP Rail and its partners at TransLink on contingency plans, which could have included expanded TrainBus services and bus shuttles to SkyTrain stations.

Roughly 5,000 people use the commuter rail service and TrainBus each day, while there are three stations in Coquitlam and Port Moody along the route.

The union representing CP Rail employees issued strike notice over the weekend, which put them in a legal position to strike at midnight today.

The West Coast Express is a commuter train spanning 65 kilometres from Mission to downtown Vancouver.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com