Via Rail says no one was hurt after the engine of a Montreal to Toronto train caught fire near Cornwall, Ont., Wednesday afternoon.
Train #67 left Montreal at 1:23 p.m., according to Via Rail’s website, and reached Cornwall at 2:36 p.m. The train was forced to stop 12 minutes later because of a fire in the locomotive, a Via Rail spokesperson confirmed to CTV News Ottawa.
“Passengers were safely moved to cars at the back of the train,” an email said. “Firefighters were on the scene quickly and put the fire out. None of the 195 passengers or crew members were injured in the incident.”
According to Via Rail’s train tracker, the fire left the train more than four hours behind schedule. It was supposed to pull into Union Station in Toronto just after 6:30 p.m., but was listed as delayed until 10:47 p.m.
“Via Rail has activated a plan to get passengers safely moving again and will ensure all passengers reach their destinations,” the company said. No other details were provided.
Via Rail offered its sincere apologies to customers inconvenienced by the delay, but did not say anything about compensation.
“The incident has caused rail traffic in the area which is delaying some other Via Rail trains,” Via Rail said.
Train #69 from Montreal to Toronto and trains #55 and #59 from Ottawa to Toronto were also delayed by up to two hours, according to Via Rail’s website. Trains travelling from Toronto to Montreal were only showing minor delays.
