Train passengers stranded in Winnipeg
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/07/2009 (6201 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WINNIPEG — Canadian and foreign tourists were left stranded in Winnipeg today as Via Rail engineers gear up for a strike set to begin tomorrow.
A nearly full train chugged into Union Station at 8 a.m., leaving passengers scrambling to sort out alternative ways to get to their destinations. Via could not immediately be reached for comment about alternative arrangements.
"If we would have known ahead of time, we would have just stayed home," said Gilles Roy, on his way from Ottawa to visit family in B.C. "Now we’re stuck in the middle."
The halt of service slammed the brakes on Tony and Gay Draper Rickards’ honeymoon.
The pair from Scotland are first-time visitors to Canada and said they took the train to see Canada’s diverse landscape.
"We wanted to see Canada," said Tony. "You can’t see that from 30,000 feet."
Passengers at the Union Station this morning said they found out a strike was possible when they boarded in Toronto on Tuesday, but thought it would be averted. They said they found out their trip was being cancelled in Winnipeg yesterday evening.
The rail line is negotiating with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference which represents about 340 locomotive engineers. Engineers have been working without a contract since Dec. 31, 2006.
The union plans to go on strike tomorrow at 11 a.m. Via said in a release Tuesday that after 11 a.m. tomorrow, all trains will be cancelled until a settlement is reached.
A federal mediator has been brought in to help negotiations.