VIA Rail warns of delays on Quebec City-Ottawa-Toronto corridor due to speed restrictions

People travelling on VIA Rail through Ottawa are being warned of potential delays of up to an hour due to new speed restrictions imposed on its new trains by Canadian National Railway, the company that owns the tracks.

VIA Rail says new speed restrictions are in effect for the new Siemen's Venture trainsets travelling in the Montreal – Ottawa – Kingston – Toronto and Windsor corridor.

"We are currently experiencing delays of 30-60 minutes on certain Corridor trains due to unexpected speed restrictions imposed by CN, the railway infrastructure owner," VIA Rail said in a statement on its website.

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In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, VIA Rail says CN implemented the rule on Friday, "without prior notice," requiring new trains operating between Windsor and Montreal to reduce speed at "multiple public crossings."

CN is requiring the Siemen's Venture trainsets to have 32 axles, an additional eight axles on each trainset. A spokesperson for CN Rail tells CTV News Ottawa the railway advised VIA Rail of the issue with the trains three years ago.

“This is a safety issue, both for the trains and their passengers, but also for pedestrians and motorists at crossings. Safety is not something we can compromise on, ever," Ashley Michnowski said.

"We advised VIA very early on in the process (October 2021) that operating at a 24-axle count could create issues. This has proven to be the case.

"When it was confirmed that operating at 24-axles created shunting issues (March 2024), we immediately notified VIA and took necessary measures to protect the public by reverting to CN’s 32-axle minimum requirement or imposing restrictions on the designated routes that VIA was operating this fleet on."

CN Rail says it discovered on Oct. 11 the VIA Rail Venture train sets were operating in expanded service with crossings "which may experience shunt loss and then be unprotected."

"CN took immediate measures to issue the proper instructions to protect the safety of train operations and crossings," Michnowski said.

VIA Rail says "no incidents or issues at level crossings have been reported" since the Venture trains entered service.

"Specifically, the new trains have been running on the Montreal-Ottawa route since November 8, 2022, the Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa route since May 8, 2023, the Montreal-Toronto route since October 24, 2023, and the Toronto-Windsor route since October 7, 2024," VIA Rail said.

VIA Rail says it continues to "engage in constructive dialogue with CN to find solutions to this situation."