MONTREAL – The busiest section of the Canadian National main line is shut down today due to a fast-moving wildfire in Jasper, Alberta.
Officials ordered an evacuation of Jasper as well as visitors to Jasper National Park overnight as the fire spread and left only a westbound escape route out of town, according to Canada’s CBC network. About 4,700 people were evacuated.
“We have safely suspended rail service through the Jasper National Park due to several active wildfires east and south of Jasper, Alberta. We remain in communication with the local Emergency Operations Centers,” CN spokeswoman Ashley Michnowski says.
“CN crews in the area are working to inspect and protect the track infrastructure with CN’s firefighting train, Trident, which arrived in Jasper early this morning,” she says. “No track damage has been reported at this time. We thank first responders for their continued efforts.”
CN has a fleet of three firefighting trains.
CN’s Albreda and Edson subdivisions meet at the division point of Jasper, where CN also has a small yard. The route funnels traffic to and from Vancouver and Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
Jasper is a stop for VIA Rail’s Canadian, and VIA trains 5 and 6, which serve Prince Rupert, originate and terminate in Jasper. On its website, VIA cautions passengers “that in the event that we cannot guarantee safe operation, trains traveling in that region might be cancelled prior to their departure or while en route, without offer of alternate transportation. Trains may also incur delays and air quality may be impacted.”
The westbound Canadian scheduled to depart Toronto on Wednesday, July 24, and the eastbound train scheduled to depart Vancouver on Friday, July 26, could be affected, the company says, adding that passengers with reservations would be contacted and advised of any service disruption. The eastbound Canadian that departed Vancouver, B.C., on July 22 apparently has made it through the fire region and was last reported at Edson, B.C., west of Edmonton, but the westbound train was stopped at Unity, Sask., late Tuesday afternoon.
Also, Rocky Mountaineer has cancelled two excursions scheduled to depart today. These are “Rainforest to Gold Rush” from North Vancouver, B.C., to Jasper over CN’s former BC Rail route via Prince George, and “Journey through the Clouds” on the same Jasper-Vancouver route used by the Canadian. Updates to other trips that might be cancelled will be posted on the Rocky Mountaineer website.
— Updated at 5:10 p.m. CT with additional details on the Canadian and information on Rocky Mountaineer. Trains correspondent Bob Johnston contributed to this report.
From driving across British Columbia and through Jasper a few years ago there are so many dead trees for miles and miles from insect attacks that I wonder if the whole Canadian Rockies couldn’t burn.
VIA #2 of July 22 terminated at Kamloops, was wyed and returned to Vancouver on July 23.
VIA #1 terminated at Saskatoon, wyed and ran deadhead back to Winnipeg.
Regarding VIA 2 and 1 today, according to a just-published article in the Seattle Times, the total evacuation numbers in the Jasper area were between 45-50 Thousand people, possibly Via 2 was used to support the evacuation of the town, which has just under 5000 residents. As far as VIA 1 being held without moving on to Edmonton, this may be caused by stopped westbound freights on the mainline, and difficulty finding a clear route from Unity SK into Edmonton (CN still has mostly single track on the prairie, congestion can form quickly.)
Rocky Mountaineer is heavily dependent on local hotels and buses for their passengers at terminals, and if Jasper is under an evacuation order then even if the train can get into town from the west, they can’t just deposit passengers there with no place to go except a shelter. As an aside, some speculate that Rocky M’tr makes as much (if not more) from hotel and tour packaging as they do from rail fares, so better to cancel outright if they can’t house and tour their customers. Lets hope the Banff section of the train absorbed some of their Jasper riders so that scenic and fun vacations were not entirely cancelled!!