Via Rail said the company was ‘forced’ to cancel all trains on the Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal corridors for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
A fierce winter storm that had stranded hundreds of Via Rail passengers in Ontario and Quebec overnight has morphed into a cancellation of all trains in the service’s Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal corridors this holiday weekend after a CN train derailment.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra called the Via Rail situation “unacceptable” in a Twitter statement Saturday afternoon. Jeffrey Chemeres was a passenger travelling on Train 55 from Ottawa to Toronto when it came to a halt after hitting a tree around 9 p.m. The train started moving again at 11 a.m., but he was frustrated when they were dropped off in Oshawa with little notice, instead of completing their journey to Union Station in Toronto.
Mr. Chemeres spoke to The Globe and Mail on Saturday afternoon from a GO train headed to his final destination of Burlington, Ont. During the interview, transit staff announced that the train had also experienced mechanical difficulties and that passengers would have to disembark and board the next trip.
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