The head of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce is pleased that the federal government has stepped in to get trains moving again after a lockout by Canada’s two largest rail companies.

But speaking on NL Newsday, Executive Director Acacia Pangilinan says its unfortunate that the labour dispute got to a point where the trains stopped running.

“Our members were pretty anxious about the potential of what the lockout could mean for their businesses, and both the BC and the Canadian Chambers of Commerce had called for the federal government to bring everybody back to the table and intervene,” she said.

“It’s definitely a welcome step in the right direction for our members.”

Pangilinan says the Kamloops Chamber surveyed its members Thursday morning to gauge how they would have been affected by the labour dispute.

“Some of our members have found a way to source their products and materials fairly local, and so they weren’t going to be impacted,” she said. “The were quite a number though that felt the longer the potential lockout would have gone on, it would have caused concern for their supply chains.

“I did hear from a couple that would have had fairly immediate impacts.”

Economists had warned that Canada looks to lose around a billion dollars every day the rail services in the country are shut down.

“It’s unfortunate that it made it to this point but certainly from a Chamber perspective, we’re relieved to see the government intervene, and call all the parties together and but an end to any potential lockout and job action,” Pangilinan said.