VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The government of British Columbia has announced new restrictions on non-essential travel because of wildfires in the province, leading to the cancellation of at least two scheduled trips of the Rocky Mountaineer luxury tour train.
The government order announced Saturday restricts people from staying in hotels for non-essential purposes in several communities, to make accommodations available for those evacuating the fires, as well as personnel providing emergency services. The order covers a half-dozen communities, including Kamloops, which provides overnight accommodations for two of the Rocky Mountaineer routes.
As a result, a notification on the Rocky Mountaineer website says the “First Passage to the West” trip scheduled to depart today from Banff/Lake Louise, Alberta, to Vancouver will not operate; neither will the Aug. 21 trip from Vancouver to Banff/Lake Louise.
Passengers scheduled to take part on those trips should call the company at numbers provided here; those scheduled to travel in the next seven days should leave a voice mail if they are unable to get through. Passengers on trips departing after Aug. 27 should email guestexperience@rockymountaineer.com for more information.
Today’s scheduled “Journey Through the Clouds” departure from Jasper, Alberta, to Vancouverwas set to operate as scheduled, with alternate accommodations arranged. The company is working to arrange similar accommodations for future trips and will contact passengers as soon as possible.
Rocky Mountaineer also advises that travel may be slower in some areas because of heat-related speed restricts and that visibility of scenery and air quality may be affected because of the wildfires.
Reports indicate a fire in the Shushwap Lake area east of Kamloops has closed the CPKC main line and Trans-Canada Highway, while another southwest of Kamloops, near Boston Bar, B.C., is threatening the paired CPKC and Canadian National main lines through the Fraser River Canyon.
Hopefully, this wildfire situation does not turn into anything worse than it already is.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
A perfectly sound decision by the Rocky Mountaineer management.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün