The snowstorms that iced many Canadians out of their holiday travel plans, continue to leave airline and railway executives and politicians on the hot seat. New data from the Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians blame airlines and rail companies almost as much as they do the weather for cancelled flights and delayed trains over Christmas and New Years. The Angus Reid poll found that 70% of Canadians blame the weather, but that 68% said the problems lie with airlines and rail companies. One-in-three (33%) point the finger at the federal government. A similar number (30%) blame the travellers for putting Read more
train travel
VIA Rail Canada says it sorry for a pre-Christmas incident that left passengers stranded on a train for 18 hours, and it’s promising to do better. The company issued the following statement today regarding the travel delays and train cancellations which occurred from December 23 to December 26: “A severe winter storm along with the derailment of a freight train disrupted VIA Rail’s operations from December 23 to 26. Unfortunately, a number of trains, particularly along the Québec City–Windsor corridor and elsewhere in Eastern Canada, were cancelled or delayed for extended periods. We appreciate that passengers were looking forward to Read more
The House of Commons committee that handles transportation issues this week will launch special hearings this week to examine the travel chaos that ruined the holidays for hundreds of Canadians. CTV reports the first hearing will take place on Thursday and is expected to see Transport Minister Omar Alghabra field a series of questions about what transpired and what accountability there will be. Airlines and VIA Rail also are expected to appear at before the committee. Major storms in Vancouver just prior to Christmas forced WestJet and other airlines to cancel a number of flights. Another storm moved into Ontario Read more
The Christmas holiday season is proving to be the opposite of merry and bright for many Canadians. Major cancellations continued at airports and on train lines in eastern Canada on Christmas Day, when most Canadians hope to spend time with family and friends. All VIA Rail trains between Toronto and Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa are cancelled today, VIA Rail stated. It was much better than Saturday, but Christmas Day Sunday still saw more than 130 outgoing and incoming flights at Toronto Pearson, which means travel plans were disrupted or entirely cancelled for thousands and thousands of people. FlightAware reported Read more
The worst appears to be over for southern Ontario, but frigid temperatures and strong winds are still limiting travel for many. Roads are treacherous, and VIA Rail also is having trouble with trains in the Windsor-Quebec City corridor. CP24 reports passengers on a train heading from Ottawa to Toronto have been stuck on board a stalled train car for 17 hours. Airports appear to be recovering in Ontario and Quebec as the snow dissipates. “The last several days have been very challenging for the airlines and they’ve been proactively cancelling and delaying flights,” said Tori Gass, a spokesperson for Toronto Read more
