Cédryk Coderre was one of dozens of travellers left stranded on a Via Rail train for 10 hours earlier this year.
As the government-owned passenger railway struggled with a mechanical failure, passengers on board Train 622 on Aug. 31 were left hungry and thirsty and forced to contend with sometimes inoperable toilets that belched out foul odours.
Some irate passengers — frustrated after waiting for hours with little to eat beyond bagged pretzels — got combative with Via personnel on this Montreal-Quebec City trip, Coderre told a recent House of Commons committee studying the incident.
“It sounded like the staff had it rough with some of the passengers in the other cars,” Coderre said.
A frequent traveller both at home and abroad, Coderre told MPs he has experienced more plane and train delays here in Canada than anywhere else.
“Around the world, from what I’ve noticed, there are not really any delays compared with what …