Imagine taking a long trip on the train, anticipating your stop in Chatham, and then not being able to disembark. Then having to travel another 83km down the line to Windsor.
It happened Sunday night to Susan Peet and four other passengers onboard VIA Rail train #75.
Peet says she and her fellow passengers started grabbing their luggage as the train approached the Chatham station.
"The train had stopped. I opened the door between the cars, because there were no train personnel there. I could see the station. Then, the train started moving," she says.
Immediately, Peet started looking for a VIA employee, but she had to run through three cars to find one.
"I said, 'we need to get off in Chatham, stop the train,'" she says. "He said, 'can't stop the train. It's just started going. It's going again. You'll have to go to Windsor.'"
BlackburnNews.com file photo of the Via Rail train station in Windsor. (Photo by Jason Viau)
VIA blames a miscommunication, but Peet wonders if it would have happened if the Chatham station had staff.
"The person at the station probably would have said, 'why aren't you opening the rest of the cars?'" says Peet.
Once in Windsor, Peet says VIA supplied cabs back to Chatham for her and the other passengers, but the ride back was not fun.
"When the cab was driving into Chatham, we almost missed the Park Ave. turnoff. It was that foggy," she says.
Instead of arriving at 9:30pm, she finally made it home just before midnight.
Despite the ordeal, Peet says she will travel by train again. She makes the trip between Chatham and Ottawa about four times a year and does not like to drive on Hwy. 401 in the winter.
VIA says "we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience", and the five passengers have been offered a refund as well as a travel credit for their next trip.
