Via Rail extends cancellations to end of day Friday

By Max Reid

BELLEVILLE – Via Rail is continuing train cancellations to the end of the day on Friday due to the ongoing blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

Protesters standing in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en First Nation are on their eighth day camped out in two spots beside the railway tracks: on Wyman Road and beside Highway 49. As a result, Via has been forced to halt all trains on the Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa routes since last Thursday. Freight trains are also cancelled. The tracks are not physically blocked, but vehicles including a dump truck and a school bus are parked at the camps.

The OPP announced Tuesday evening that they would begin enforcing an injunction against the blockade on behalf of CN Rail, but as of Thursday morning no action had been taken.