Several passengers who preferred the train for their Christmas trips found themselves stranded in Via Rail devices, sometimes for 18 hours, due to the storm that hit several provinces on Friday.
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A passenger who was on a train from Ottawa to Toronto told CP24 that he got on the train around 3:30 p.m. and was stuck on the tracks at Coburg around 10:30 p.m.
“We were told at the time that it would be an hour before we could start rolling again,” Darcy Pyrell, who was still stationary at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, told the media.
“We were told it was because of a downed tree and we were told that one of the two trains stuck behind us was going to merge with ours to move us forward,” he said. “But we didn’t see that train go by. We didn’t move and a lot of people think Via Rail lied to them. And we really don’t know what to do with ourselves right now.”
Via Rail explained in an email to CP24 that several trains were immobilized or canceled in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor due to extreme weather conditions.
“From power outages to trees on the tracks and even a tree falling on a locomotive, conditions make it impossible for some of our trains to move,” the railroad said.
Affected customers will be compensated.
