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VIA Rail received a notification from CN allowing a resumption of service in Southwestern Ontario.
Senior Director for Corporate Communications for VIA Rail Marie-Anna Murat said beginning Thursday morning, February 20, all trains running between Toronto-London-Windsor, Toronto-Sarnia and Toronto-Niagara will resume service. For operational and safety reasons, please note that trains may encounter certain delays.
Furthermore, between Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa, partial service will resume during weekdays and full service will be offered during weekends.
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
Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa Weekdays Partial Trains 22, 24, 26 and 28 leaving from Ottawa Trains 33, 35, 37 and 39, leaving from Québec City Thursday, February 20
Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa weekends Full Saturday, February 22
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 until the end of the day on Thursday, February 20, and all customers will be receiving a cancellation notice.
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 Monday, February 24, have the option of autonomously cancelling online for a full refund with no service charges, even if additional segments fall after February 24.
Passengers may also get a refund for a return ticket scheduled after February 24, 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: http://www.viarail.ca/en/travel-advisory-information.
All passengers are encouraged to visit our website for more information.
As of February 18, 532 trains have been cancelled because of the blockades. More than 103 000 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.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
