Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1998, March 1 - 8 cars derail at Lyn, mile 127.54, Canadian National Railways, Kingston subdivision.

Ottawa Citizen 3 March 1998

A portion of Canadian National's main east-west rail line was closed temporarily after a 25-car [sic] derailment west of Brockville. The westbound CN freight train derailed at about 1 a.m. There were no injuries. Mechanical problems are suspected.

Ottawa Citizen 4 March 1998

Ottawa - Toronto train service to resume today
A derailment that caused thousands of train travellers to take the bus between Ottawa and Toronto should be cleared by today, VIA Rail Canada reports.
The derailment, involving 25 [sic] freight cars, occurred on Monday on Canadian National's main east-west line between Brockville and Kingston.
There were no injuries reported, but until last night the accident caused havoc with VIA Rail trains that use that CN line. Passengers travelling between Toronto and Montreal had to be taken off trains and put on buses to get past the blockage, VIA spokesman Malcolm Andrews said, while passengers travelling between Ottawa and Toronto had to make the entire journey by bus.
"Well over 5,000 people have been disrupted by this," said Mr. Andrews.
"We are certainly pleased things will be back tomorrow and people won't be inconvenienced any further. By the time your paper hits the streets we will be back to normal."
It's been a trying winter for VIA Rail, which was also forced to alter its schedules during the ice storms in January.
"Even without this, if (our only problems has been) the ice storm, it's already been a tough winter," Mr. Andrews said.
Passengers who have purchased train tickets but were forced to take buses instead will be allowed to use the value of their tickets towards future VIA fares, he added.
The cause of the derailment is still unknown.

Montreal Gazette 5 March 1998
Full Via service back
Via Rail services on the Montreal to Toronto and Ottawa to Toronto routes have returned to normal schedules, the company has announced. The services had been interrupted or delayed after a CN freight derailment near Brockville, Ont, Monday morning.

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Updated 7 September 2020