Via fears blockade’s intangible costs
Activists block tracks for 4th time in a year
The intangible costs to Via Rail of the 18-hour blockade Tuesday and Wednesday near Napanee, Ont., might outweigh its out-of-pocket expenses, railway spokesperson Jacques Gagnon said.
The passenger rail operator ceased all operations on the Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto runs as of late Tuesday after First Nations activists blocked the tracks at the Tyendinaga Mohawk reserve — for the fourth time in just over a year. They are seeking an inquiry into the unsolved murders of aboriginal women.
Gagnon said that the blockade that began on Tuesday at about 10 p.m. and ended Wednesday after 4 p.m., would cost Via Rail “thousands and thousands of dollars.”
The company chartered buses to take the roughly 4,000 passengers affected on both links as of late Wednesday — roughly 100 buses.
Gagnon said that busing people from Montreal to Kingston and putting them on trains from there to Toronto was not considered because “it’s an absolute logistical nightmare.”
Passenger service would resume “at first light” Thursday morning, Gagnon said. In the meantime, buses would continue leaving from Central Station and Toronto’s Union Station.
Before Via Rail trains can roll again, three CN trains parked near the siege have priority of passage — CN owns the tracks — and CN crews must inspect the tracks for safety reasons, said Gagnon.
“Everything should be functional normally for our passengers at first light.”
Jim Feeny, director of public and government affairs for Canadian National Railway Co., said that the company would not divulge “the financial impact on CN of past and present blockades.
“CN does not make public the financial impact of individual incidents that disrupt its service, except in those instances when court actions are involved.”
“CN will not comment further at this time.”
Gagnon said that “thousands of dollars may not sound like a lot, but every dollar counts for a Crown corporation like Via Rail. I mean, these are expenses we’d really rather not have.”
“And there are intangibles as well that may be more costly. Will it change the behaviour of our customers and passengers, who will say this is not a dependable service?
“Last time (March 8), they were prisoners inside the train for several hours,” although he stressed that they were never in any danger.
The December 2012 siege — again a matter of hours — cost about $25,000, with overtime for Via Rail employees accounting for much of that, Gagnon added.
About 4 million passengers travelled on Via Rail in 2012 and 3.9 million last year. But the dip last year was not due to the blockades, he noted.
About 80 per cent of Via Rail passengers travel on the Windsor-Quebec City corridor.
Passengers with tickets for the affected period were free to change their travel arrangements without penalty, Gagnon said.