MONTRÉAL-QUÉBEC CITY: VIA RAIL UNABLE TO RESUME SERVICE AS PLANNED

MONTREAL, February 19, 2020 – Due to a new blockade near St-Lambert (Québec), VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) has no other option but to cancel the resumption of its service between Montréal and Québec City, which was initially scheduled for Thursday February 20.   

Overview of Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa service 

All trains between Montréal and Québec City are now cancelled until Friday, February 21, end of day. 

Overview of service resumptions

 

Route	Service	Starting Date
Toronto- London-Windsor	Full	Thursday, February 20
Toronto-Sarnia	Full	Thursday, February 20
Toronto-Niagara Falls	Full	Thursday, February 20
Montréal-Ottawa Weekdays	Partial Trains 22,24,26,28, 33,35,37,39	Thursday, February 20
Montréal-Ottawa weekends	Full	Saturday, February 22

 

This information is subject to change without notice.

CANCELLATIONS

Since all other VIA Rail services are not operating until further notice, with the exception of Sudbury-White River (CP Rail) and Churchill-The Pas (Hudson Bay Railway), VIA Rail has cancelled all affected departures as per the table below.

 

Overview of service cancellations

Route	Service	Cancelled until
The Canadian	Cancelled	Wednesday, 26 February
Prince Rupert- Prince Georges	Cancelled	Wednesday, 26 February
Winnipeg-The Pas	Cancelled	Wednesday, 26 February
The Ocean	Cancelled	Sunday, February 23
Senneterre-Jonquière	Cancelled	Sunday, February 23
Toronto-Montréal	Cancelled	Sunday, February 23
Toronto-Ottawa	Cancelled	Sunday, February 23
Montréal-Québec City	Cancelled	Friday, February 21
Toronto-Windsor	Cancelled	Wednesday, February 19

 

Cancellations are made on a progressive basis, depending on the evolution of the situation. As soon as we confirm that a train will be cancelled, passengers on that train will be notified by email and will be automatically reimbursed. Due to the volume of transactions that we process in these exceptional circumstances, reimbursement can take a minimum of 15 days. 

 

REFUNDS

Passengers holding a ticket for which the first trip’s scheduled departure has not yet passed and is no later than Wednesday, February 26, have the option of autonomously cancelling online for a full refund with no service charges, even if additional segments fall after February 26. Passengers may also get a refund for a return ticket scheduled after February 26, as long as the first portion of the trip was scheduled no later than that date.

All details on the refunding procedure are available on our website: https://www.viarail.ca/en/travel-advisory-information.

All passengers are encouraged to visit our website for more information.

As of February 19, 599 trains have been cancelled because of the blockades. More than 111 000 passengers have been affected.

Our passengers rely on VIA Rail for regular and safe intercity rail service and we are eager to resume operations.

We remain hopeful for an end to the situation as soon as possible and encourage all relevant parties to continue their efforts towards a peaceful resolution.

We thank our passengers for their continued patience and understanding.

About VIA Rail

As Canada’s national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and all its employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and about 180 more communities through intermodal partnerships, and safely transported over 5 million passengers in 2019. The Corporation has been awarded five Safety Awards and three Environment Awards by the Railway Association of Canada since 2007. Visit the “About VIA Rail” section at https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.