Via to resume service in southwestern Ontario starting Thursday morning

MONTREAL — Via Rail says its service will resume Thursday morning in southwestern Ontario.

The passenger rail company says it received a notification from CN Rail allowing a resumption of service in the area.

All trains running between Toronto-London-Windsor, Toronto-Sarnia and Toronto-Niagara will resume service but may face delays for operational and safety reasons.

Partial service is also set to resume between Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa beginning Thursday with full service available on weekends.

Other Via Rail services are not operating with the exception of Sudbury-White River and Churchill-The Pas until the end of day Thursday.

As of Tuesday, 532 trains have been cancelled and more than 103,000 passengers have been affected because of the blockades.

Via trains have been disrupted by protesters showing solidarity with the hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs opposing the Coastal GasLink project.

Protesters have blocked rail lines across the country, and disrupted freight and passenger traffic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2020.

The Canadian Press