(The Canadian Press circulated the following on June 30.)
TORONTO — Organizers of Friday’s aboriginal blockades got the economic disruptions they wanted as transport trucks were slowed in traffic, $100 million in cargo went undelivered and 5,000 Via Rail passengers were forced to make other arrangements.
CN Rail’s (TSX:CNR) decision to halt traffic on its busiest Toronto-Montreal line meant a daily average of 25 freight trains and 22 Via Rail trains were blocked, and about $100 million in goods – which could include cars, chemicals, lumber, metals or minerals-are stalled waiting to be delivered, said railway spokesman Mark Hallman.
It’s not the first time CN has had to halt business for political reasons and the company has made it “abundantly clear” to the police and government that it’s frustrated with being stuck in the middle again, he said.
“It’s clearly a matter of considerable frustration for Canadian National because this is the third blockade in this area of the Toronto-Montreal main line in the past 15 months – we’re pretty frustrated about it,” Hallman said.
Via Rail was forced to cancel 24 trains for about 5,000 passengers between Montreal and Toronto, and Ottawa and Toronto, on what was the start of the summer’s first long-weekend.
It will be a costly loss of business although the company still doesn’t know how many refunds it will have to pay out, and how many passengers will wait for the next available train, said spokeswoman Catherine Kaloutski.
While some customers are angry, they have been generally understanding about the situation since Via Rail had been warning about possible cancellations since Wednesday, she said.
When Via Rail had to announce cancellations after a similar blockade in April, the decision was made at the 11th hour and that infuriated customers.
“We’re getting some very positive feedback from our customers,” Kaloutski said.
“We’re not seeing (any backlash) this time around and the cost of maintaining good customer relations with our passengers is very, very important to us.”
There were some benefactors in Via Rail’s misfortune, although their profits were minimal.
Air Canada (TSX:AC.A) and WestJet (TSX:WJA) both said they had a minor increase in sales because of the Via Rail cancellations, although it wasn’t a significant bonus because few seats were available since it was a long weekend.
Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said only a small minority of stranded passengers would be able to catch a last-minute flight.
“We’re expecting well in excess of 100,000 people moving through the system so we didn’t have a lot of extra capacity . . . it might be difficult for them to get a seat,” he said.
Although Via Rail said it expected normal service to resume Saturday, CN said the rail line would remain closed until the company got assurance from police that protesters had left the tracks for good.
“We’d like to see the situation resolved as quickly as possible so that we can resume business,” Hallman said.
But the rogue Mohawk protester who brought road and rail travel to a screeching halt said there may be more protests in the future.
Shawn Brant said the 11-hour shutdown of Highway 401 in eastern Ontario and the rail blockade was a “good test run” for future action.