Indigenous protesters block Canadian passenger trains

Google – AFP, 19 March 2014

A VIA Rail train engine sits idle at Union Station on April 22, 2013 in

Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Getty/AFP/File, Ian Willms)

Ottawa — Indigenous protesters east of Toronto on Wednesday halted all passenger trains between Canada's capital and the nation's two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal.

The rail corridors are the busiest in the country, and all seats had already been presold through to Thursday.

"Due to First Nations' railroad blockade, Via's train service on the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto routes is interrupted," Via Rail said on its website.

Via Rail said it has arranged for train passengers to take buses instead to their destinations. It is also offering passengers refunds or credits for future travel.

Canadian media photos, meanwhile, showed a dozen indigenous people camped out on the tracks at a crossing near Napanee, Ontario about 220 kilometers (137 miles) east of Toronto.

Mohawk chief Don Maracle told AFP the protesters are calling for a government inquiry into hundreds of murdered and missing native women across Canada.