Via Rail says some Toronto-Ottawa, Toronto-Montreal service to resume Tuesday on modified schedule

Via Rail says it will be running some trains between Ottawa and Toronto and between Toronto and Montreal Tuesday on a modified schedule after a CN derailment kept train service halted since Christmas Eve.

CN said it experienced a derailment on its Kingston subdivision near Grafton, Ont. on Dec. 24, halting all rail traffic, including passenger service. Via Rail cancelled trains on Christmas Day and Boxing Day because of the incident, though Via Rail had also experienced its own issues with a tree falling on a train during the storm, stranding passengers for hours.

“Our crews have been working tirelessly around the clock in very difficult conditions to restore the track to a safe and usable state as quickly as possible,” a CN spokesperson said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

“At this point, we are aiming to have one of the two set of tracks passable later tonight, allowing for some traffic, passenger and freight, to resume on Dec. 27.”

Via Rail said the modified schedules of the trains running on Tuesday would be posted on its website. The 28 trains that were cancelled will be combined into 14 departures, or two trains per departure.

"Due to expected congestion on these routes, we would like to advise our passengers that trains might incur significant delays at departure and/or en route," Via Rail says .

"All passengers scheduled to depart on December 27 who decide to change their travel plans will be able to autonomously cancel their reservations online and obtain a full refund (including a refund for any connection or return trips on the same booking). Furthermore, all passengers who were supposed to travel on cancelled trains between December 24 and 26 will automatically receive a full refund. Passengers must contact VIA Customer Centre if they wish to obtain a refund for any connection or return trips on the same booking."

The snowstorm that started Thursday blasted southern and eastern Ontario with a mix of rain, snow, and powerful winds. Roads were impassible, entire counties were shut down, and a significant stretch of the busy Highway 401 was closed, as was a portion of Highway 417 east of Ottawa.

The storm also knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of Canadians, tens of thousands of which remain without electricity on Boxing Day. Approximately 27,000 Hydro One customers, including more than 2,000 in eastern Ontario, are still without power, as are about 2,000 Hydro Quebec customers in the Outaouais region. 

--With files from CTV's Jackie Perez.