Mario Péloquin says it has implemented a new evacuation process but it wouldn’t have helped the Quebec train as it was unsafe to evacuate it.
OTTAWA — The head of Via Rail says a train delay over the Labour Day long weekend was an isolated incident.
MPs pressed Via Rail executives about why the incident occurred even though Via Rail made changes following similar disruptions during the 2022 holiday season.
Péloquin said the delays in 2022 were caused by an ice storm that had caused a tree to fall on the railway, while the latest incident was due to two separate mechanical failures.
Péloquin said the company has now implemented a new evacuation process but it wouldn’t have done much good in the latest incident because the train was in an area where evacuation was unsafe.