MONTREAL -- Commuter train services between Mont-Saint-Hilaire and downtown Montreal resumed Monday morning after demonstrators withdrew their protest at the Canadian National (CN) railroad in Saint-Lambert, in the south shore.
The first departure from Mont-Saint-Hilaire took place at 5:45 a.m. Trains on that line pass through McMasterville, Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Saint-Bruno, Longueuil-Saint-Hubert and Saint-Lambert before arriving at Central Station in downtown Montreal.
The end of the protest in Saint-Lambert has allowed VIA Rail passenger trains, as well as certain freight trains, to circulate between Montreal and Quebec City.
However, customers on Exo's Candiac line will still have to find alternative routes to work.
Since Feb. 10, Indigenous protesters have maintained their barricade on the railroad tracks in the Mohawk Reserve of Kahnawake.
Thirty buses have been deployed each day from the Candiac, Delson, Saint-Constant and Sainte-Catherine stations to transport people to the Mansfield terminal.
Trains on the Candiac line run between the Montérégie and downtown Montreal, crossing the Saint Lawrence River via the Victoria Bridge.
On Sunday, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers issued an ultimatum to Mohawk protesters blocking the rail line that crosses their territory from Tyendinaga, demanding they leave before 11:59 p.m.
As of Monday morning, the barricade had not yet been removed. No such ultimatum appears to have been issued to the Mohawks of Kahnawake.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2020.
