A family from Magog was looking forward to a two-week trip to the Bahamas in time for Christmas. Instead, she found herself stuck for 20 hours on a train from Montreal to Toronto, before seeing the flight that was to take her to this sunny destination canceled at the last minute, transforming this holiday getaway into a real nightmare.
Noémie Ouellet was first to take a flight from Montreal to Toronto on December 23 with her spouse and three children, to then go to the Bahamas, in the Caribbean, but WestJet canceled the same day this trip due to a major winter storm that was then sweeping across southern Ontario and Quebec. In an email to HomeworkWest Jet said on Tuesday it had canceled 333 flights that were scheduled to take place on December 23, departing from different parts of the country, a number significantly higher than usual.
The flight that was to take Ms. Ouellet and her family to the Bahamas on December 24 was maintained, at least initially. The family then decided to take a train from Montreal to Toronto at 6:48 p.m. on December 23. This trip, which normally takes a little over five hours, finally stretched over a period of 20 hours, said Ms. Ouellet when joined by The duty tuesday.
“It was a bit traumatic,” said the mother of three children aged three, eight and ten. “We didn’t know anything while we were on the train except that there was a delay,” she added, lamenting the lack of communication and support from Via Rail during this route.
By email, Via Rail indicates that many factors related to “extreme weather conditions” forced trains to be immobilized for long hours in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, on the night of December 23 to 24. “Whether it’s power outages, trees on the tracks and even a tree falling on a locomotive, conditions on the infrastructure maintained by CN have made it impossible for some of our trains”, indicates the company, which claims to have done everything to keep its customers “safe and warm” during these delays.
“We spent the night on the train. It was very cold,” recalled Noémie Ouellet. And the next morning, “there was no more food” available, except for a few snacks, such as “little dry biscuits”, she said in an interview.
The toilets, for their part, “were clogged” and were therefore no longer usable for passengers. “They really aren’t ready for this kind of situation,” says the mother, referring to Via Rail.
“All passengers reached their final destination by the end of the day on December 24, but we understand that the experience has been difficult for some,” the carrier wrote to the company. Homework.
Once arrived Saturday afternoon at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, the family then learned that the flight which was to take them to the Bahamas, also managed by WestJet, had been canceled. The family then tried to find a flight or a departure by train to return to Montreal, in vain.
After spending a night at the hotel to rest “in a real bed”, the family finally turned back on Christmas Day in the direction of Montreal in a rented car, before picking up their personal car at the airport of the Quebec metropolis and to return to the fold, to Magog, said Ms. Ouellet.
“We do not intend to reuse the services of Via Rail and West Jet”, launched the mother of the family, who complained to the two carriers. The two companies have since offered her a full refund for the trips the family paid for, while Via Rail has also given credit for future travel.
The calm after the storm
The Via Rail carrier meanwhile resumed its train connections on Tuesday between Montreal and Toronto as well as between Ottawa and Toronto, but according to a modified schedule. These trips were canceled on December 24, and then the following two days, due to the derailment of a Canadian National freight train near the village of Grafton, located between Kingston and Toronto.
Trains between Toronto and Montreal should finally move according to their “regular schedule” from December 28, Via Rail said on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon. “Due to the continued congestion on these routes, delays are to be expected along the way,” the carrier nevertheless adds.
All trains on the Toronto – Ottawa and Toronto – Montreal routes will run on the regular schedule starting December 28. Due to continued congestion on these routes, delays are to be expected along the way.
— VIA Rail Canada (@VIA_Rail) December 27, 2022
The airline WestJet, for its part, indicated by email on Tuesday that it had only recorded 12 canceled flights out of a total of 574 flights scheduled for the day. “Our operations have stabilized and the recovery is now in better shape,” said WestJet spokeswoman Morgan Bell.
The number of cancellations associated with this carrier has also been in constant decline since December 23, from 333 flights canceled on Friday to 29 on December 26, according to data provided by the company to the Homework. On Monday, 96% of flights were able to take off as planned, adds Ms. Bell.
The FlightAware tracking service reported Tuesday afternoon 53 flights canceled in the last 24 hours from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, a number dropping to just 6 canceled departures during this period at the airport. Montreal-Trudeau.
However, the situation remains critical in the United States, where FlightAware reports more than 3,000 canceled flights on Tuesday, out of a total of around 4,900 worldwide. The winter storm of historic magnitude raging south of the border has killed at least 50 people in the past few days.