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Discussion of Canadian Passenger Rail Services such as AMT (Montreal), Go Transit (Toronto), VIA Rail, and other Canadian Railways and Transit

Moderator: Ken V

 #922319  by labaienordique
 
I wanted to find out if anyone knew Via Rail's policy regarding train cancellations. Here's my story. I was in Senneterre to catch the 606 en route vers MTL. I arrived at the train station Sunday morning to find out from the agent that the train was canceled. I called Via's customer support line and I was explained that there was an engine malfunction in La Tuque. Via says they called my cell phone to notify me Saturday, but given the remoteness of Senneterre, cellular coverage is hit & miss (dead spots here & there).

If I could arrange to get to La Tuque, the customer support worker explained that a shuttle service was being provided to connect to the Shawinigan station for the Jonquière-MTL train. Given though that Senneterre is 420 km away by train (and longer by vehicle), it would have been impossible to get there).

I had reserved my ticket months ago to take advantage of the 50% off discount. I was offered a full refund for the Senneterre-MTL portion of my trip (which I did take), however the bus ticket from Senneterre to MTL was more expensive than the value of what I spent on the train ticket...

Any suggestions on how to respond to this situation?
 #922361  by Ken V
 
VIA's policy for cancelled trains is to refund the full purchase price of the tickets which you say you have received. Where practical they may offer alternate transportation and, perhaps, travel credits instead of a refund, but this is at their choice.

Regardless of the policy, VIA may offer addition compensation under certain circumstances. I highly recommend you contact VIA Rail Customer service by phone at 1-800-681-2561, by email to [email protected], or on the VIA Rail web site and explain your situation.