Via to resume Montreal-Toronto route Tuesday

This story has been updated.

MONTREAL – Via Rail expects its operations between Montreal and Toronto to return to normal by around mid-day Tuesday, after a freight train derailment Monday morning.

The train leaving Montreal for Toronto around 2 p.m. should make its way along the normal route to Toronto, without deviating through Ottawa, Via Rail spokesperson Malcolm Andrews explained. A train leaving Toronto for Monttreal about 11:30 a.m. should be able to use the regular route. All trains should resume normal operations by late afternoon.

Passengers faced delays averaging two hours Monday because of the derailment, which took place near Cornwall, Ont.

Eighteen cars left the track in the accident, which happened at 9:50 a.m. as CN train No. 368 was travelling eastbound. The cause of the derailment was not known.

Because the track was impassible, travellers going west were rerouted through Ottawa. Most of those travelling east were forced to disembark in Brockville, Ont., and bused to Montreal.

Some trains were replaced entirely by buses, Via Rail spokesperson Ashley Doyle said.

Six of the 18 cars were carrying what the federal government classifies as "dangerous commodities," CN spokesman Jim Feeny said yesterday.

The cargoes of fertilizer and sulphuric acid remained intact, but a small spill of 20 pounds of sodium cyanide escaped from a valve in the last car to derail, Feeny added.

The Ontario Provincial Police ordered nine homes close to the tracks evacuated, briefly, until a hazardous materials team from Cornwall went to contain and remove the spill. Feeny said the sodium cyanide was in dry pellet form.

The derailment impacted all service between the Montreal and Toronto and affected 12 Via Rail trains. No new tickets were issued, but all existing tickets were honoured.

Some passengers could be eligible for travel credits due to Via’s service standards and the length of the delay. Announcements about those credits were broadcast during the trips that were delayed.

"We hope to resume regular service on Tuesday," Doyle said.

Feeny said that work to remove the rail cars and put the line back in service would be done as soon as possible but wouldn’t estimate when that would be.

For more information, call Via Rail at 514-989-2626.

asutherland@montrealgazette.com