OTTAWA -- VIA Rail says it will soon have partial service on most of its routes, after a rail blockade near Belleville, Ont. caused widespread cancellations.
The passenger rail company cancelled trains across Canada Feb. 13, after CN Rail, whose tracks VIA uses, chose to shut down its network in eastern Canada.
VIA says, as of Tuesday, March 3, partial service will resume between Ottawa and Toronto. Partial service between Montréal and Toronto will also be restored.
A single trip on the Toronto to Vancouver line is confirmed for March 4. One trip from Vancouver to Toronto will run March 6.
"All current reservations on those segments will be protected," VIA said in a press release. "As VIA Rail is reaching out directly to passengers with reservations to update them on the latest developments, we would like to inform all our customers that this transition will take time and have an impact on the reservation system. We thank them for their patience and understanding."
VIA says 940 trains have been cancelled as a result of the blockades, impacting more than 164,000 passengers.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 10 demonstrators camped alongside the CN Rail tracks in Tyendinaga Township Monday. The protesters had been camped out next to the tracks for nearly three weeks before police enforced an injunction to remove them.
VIA says is continues to work with CN Rail to ensure full service can resume on all routes.
