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Serious problems with Via Rail trains south of Ottawa have left passengers stranded overnight for more than 12 hours.
Via Rail train No. 669 “experienced a mechanical failure” near Brockville, Ont., Wednesday evening, according to a Via statement. When the train could not be repaired, the company said its passengers were transferred to another train.
This route goes from Montreal to Toronto.
It also disrupted service on trains 48 and 54 from Toronto to Ottawa, whose passengers were in Brockville from about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday until 10:30 a.m. Thursday, when they were put on another train.
“Originally… we were going to change trains and these passengers would board our train,” Morgan Davis of CBC Radio's “Train 48” said. Ottawa Morning on Thursday.
“In the end, these passengers came with us.”
“Fortunately [the train] there was heating, thank God, we were fed, there was water… They took care of us,” said Kiya Parvar, a passenger on train 48.
“But… today is a complete write-off of my work because I didn’t sleep.”
Morgan Davis told CBC Radio Ottawa Morning that he and the other passengers on Train 48 were upset because it was not clearly explained to them why they were stuck in Brockville.
Alan Drummond, a doctor from Perth, Ont., told CBC he waited at the Smiths Falls train station for about six hours to pick up his daughter before giving up around 3 a.m.
At approximately 8:30 a.m. Thursday, he drove to Brockville to pick her up.
No alternative offered
A Via Rail spokesperson would not tell CBC News whether the mechanical issue was related to the snow warnings in effect in eastern Ontario on Wednesday. Via said in a statement that the issue is under investigation.
The spokesman said the devices needed to repair the broken train were on different trains en route.
Before the passengers were picked up, Via Rail allowed people to get off the train at Brockville but did not provide alternative transportation, the spokesman said.
Via apologized in a statement, saying it was offering passengers a full refund and a credit toward a future trip.
