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Via Rail passengers travelling from Toronto to Ottawa were stranded for 12 hours overnight after an earlier train broke down near Brockville, Ont.
Via said Train 669 from Montreal to Toronto “experienced a mechanical failure” Wednesday evening. Passengers were transferred to another train that made it to Toronto after a delay of over eight hours.
But the breakdown also disrupted two later trains, 48 and 54, both bound for Ottawa from Toronto. Those passengers were stranded from about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday until 10:30 a.m. Thursday when they were finally transferred to another train.
“We were waiting and had this hope that it was going to be resolved within the next hour, half-hour,” Train 48 passenger Kiyavash Parvar told CBC News.
“You have that feeling that it’s just going to be resolved, it’s just around the corner, but no. It never happened. With the sunrise we were like, this is not going to be a problem that can be solved anytime soon.”
Via Rail spokesperson Karl Helou said the company looked at alternative transportation options, but no buses were available throughout the region.
“Our priority is the safety of our passengers, so we preferred to keep [them] on a train where there was heat, where they received food, beverages, blankets,” Helou told CBC early Thursday afternoon.
WATCH | ‘ It is absolutely unacceptable,’ Via Rail spokesperson says of delays:
Via Rail spokesperson apologizes to passengers affected by stranded train
Karl Helou, a spokesperson for Via Rail, apologized Thursday to passengers who were stuck on a train in Brockville, Ont., overnight because of a mechanical issue, as well as others affected by the delays. ‘This is definitely not the level of service that we want to provide to Canadians,’ Helou said in an interview.
Parvar said he was thankful for the heat on Train 48, but he was unable to sleep.
“Today is a complete write-off for my work because I didn’t sleep,” he told CBC.
Abraham Barron, a student, said he didn’t sleep either.
“But you know, there’s chargers in there and I have my phone, so I kept myself occupied. I also had a little bit of school work I finished up. So it all worked out,” he said.
Passenger Abraham Barron decided to get off the train in Brockville. He said his grandfather was going to pick him up at the station. (Emma Weller/CBC)
Train staff brought in muffins from Tim Hortons, “which was a nice touch,” Barron added.
Barron got off the train at Brockville and made arrangements for his grandfather to pick him up.
Alan Drummond, a doctor in Perth, Ont., told CBC he waited at the Smiths Falls train station for about six hours to pick up his daughter, but gave up around 3 a.m.
Another passenger, Morgan Davis, told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning that he and other passengers on Train 48 were frustrated by a lack of clear information.
Isabelle Leduc, who said she was stuck for hours on the Toronto-bound train that experienced the mechanical issue, said customers were given blankets and glow sticks “because we were in the dark.”
“The toilets weren’t working either,” Leduc said once she’d arrived to Toronto.
The train that experienced an unspecified mechanical issue, delaying two later passenger trains, was stopped near the Via Rail station in Brockville. (Emma Weller/CBC)
As of noon Thursday, all affected passengers had reached their destinations, Helou said.
“It is absolutely unacceptable,” he said of the service disruption, “and we will do our due diligence [in reviewing the incident].”
“I want to go home,” passenger Maiah Morgan told Radio-Canada once she finally arrived in Ottawa.
Parvar said he was feeling the same way.
“I’ve missed my work function, I’ve missed tonight’s hotel, so I’m looking forward to going and finding some way to crash and catch up on my lack of 15 hours’ sleep,” he said.
Via must ‘continue to improve’: Minister
Earlier on Thursday, a Via Rail spokesperson would not tell CBC News whether the mechanical problem had anything to do with the snowfall warnings in place across eastern Ontario on Wednesday.
In an earlier statement, Via said it’s offering passengers a full refund and travel credit toward a future trip.
“Obviously, Via Rail has had incidents like this in the past and we have directed that they get much better at issues that may arise on a line,” federal Transport Minister Steve MacKinnon said Thursday.
“We understand … it’s a Canadian winter and things happen. However, when these things do happen, the response is critical and we want Via Rail to continue to improve on that.”
WATCH | The transport minister’s comments:
Transport minister asked about Via train delay that left passengers stranded overnight
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon was asked Thursday about a Via Rail train that was stalled for at least 12 hours, leaving passengers stranded. MacKinnon stressed that in situations such as this, ‘the response is critical’ and that the government wants Via to ‘continue to improve.’
