Missed birthday parties, appointments and departing ships are just a few of the stories passengers will be telling for years if they were aboard the Via Rail train headed for Quebec City on Saturday.
Some of them are out of thousands of dollars as a result.
Las Vegas resident Rhonee Rojas and his husband were onboard the three-hour turned 10-hour train ride and were set to leave on a Holland America cruise ship the same day.
They were heading for a seven-day cruise leaving Quebec City on its way to Boston when repeated mechanical issues caused the train to stop.
“So I looked over to my husband and I said, ‘I’m a little bit worried,'” said Rhonee Rojas.
The two consecutive mechanical issues caused passengers to be stuck on the train, growing more and more uncomfortable. One passenger said it felt “like being in a prison.”
“The tension started to rise. Definitely,” said Rojas, who added that people were getting claustrophobic, and he and his husband begged to get off.
There were around 20 other passengers on the train heading for the same ship.
“They took a list down of all the passengers, and I thought, ‘Okay, great! Maybe they were going to grab a bus, bus to the port and we’ll be okay,'” said Rojas. “That never sufficed, obviously, because I’m here.”
The company said no buses were available to offer alternative transport so they missed the boat.
Canadian Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez is expected to meet with Via leadership this week.
“This is unacceptable and we will get to the bottom of this,” he wrote on X. “Passengers deserve better.”
Rojas said that they made the most of the unfortunate situation by spending some time in Quebec City, but they lost roughly $5,000.
Holland America considers them a no-show, and they said no refund is coming.
They also had to change their return flight home.
“I wasn’t going to dare get back on the train and head back to Montreal,” said Rojas. “There was no way. There was no possible way. I’m definitely scarred for life from this experience.”
Via Rail has apologized for the inconvenience and said customers will get a refund.
Rojas, however, wants more for spending too much time on the tracks and none on the sea.