Significant problems with Via Rail trains south of Ottawa have stranded frustrated passengers overnight.
Via Rail train 48 left Toronto around 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday and was scheduled to arrive in Ottawa around 11:10 p.m. Passengers say it hasn’t made it and that they’ve been stopped in Brockville, Ont., since about 9 p.m.
The train is holding until further notice “due to an operational constraint arising after a rescue of another train with mechanical issue,” according to Via Rail’s live train tracker.
“Originally … we were going to switch trains and those passengers would take our train,” said Morgan Davis from Train 48 on CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning on Thursday.
“In the end, those passengers hopped on with us.”
Davis said he and other passengers have not been clearly told why they’ve been stuck in Brockville, and are feeling frustrated.
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, until he gave up around 3 a.m.
As of around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, he was about to arrive in Brockville to get her.
CBC News has asked Via Rail for information, including on the train that had the mechanical problem.
Davis said Via Rail has already issued a full refund and credit toward a future trip.
