Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Witnesses, thank you for being here today. I think it was highly necessary to hear from you at the committee about a situation like the one experienced on the Labour Day weekend, which, as you mentioned, is unacceptable.
Like everyone else, I was shocked when I saw it on the news. I found it hard to believe that an incident like this could happen again. It seems to me that the situation that occurred in December 2022, where people were stuck on the train for long hours, was unacceptable. Now we see that the same thing has happened again.
I'm going to read you an excerpt from Via Rail's statement published on January 10, 2023. You said: “Beyond not having met the expectations of our customers, we have not lived up to our own standards … it is clear that lessons will be learned, and changes will be made.”
In December 2022, a train was stranded, there was no communication, the toilets were out of order and they ran out of food and water. A trip that was supposed to last three hours turned into a 14-hour journey.
In the September 2024 incident, a train was stranded, there was no communication, the toilets were out of order and they ran out of food and water. The train was stranded for about 10 hours.
It seems to me that nothing has changed. Can you explain that to us?