The morning commute west of Toronto has been disrupted for many this morning as a rail blockade on the tracks between Hamilton and Aldershot forced GO Transit to cancel GO Train service.
GO Transit announced on its website that, "As the result of the ongoing police investigation along the tracks between Aldershot GO and Hamilton GO, our trains will not be able to service Niagara Falls GO, St. Catharines GO, Hamilton GO or West Harbour GO stations on Tuesday morning."
READ: VIA Rail Service In and Out of Toronto Remains Cancelled as Blockades Continue
Protestors are currently camped out across the tracks between Hamilton and Aldershot in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary chiefs, who are protesting the 670-kilometre and $6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northern British Columbia.
Over the past month, the protests have caused disruptions in both passenger and freight rail transport across Canada, restricting the transport of goods across the country.
This comes after the OPP dismantled another blockade and arrested members of the in Tyendinaga First Nation near Belleville, ON. on Monday.
According to a post on the Wet’suwet’en Strong: Hamilton in Solidarity Facebook group, the blockade began at 5 pm on Monday “in response to the OPP raid on Tyendinaga.”
The transit service says customers affected can take bus shuttles departing from those same stations at the same time as the cancelled trains. GO Transit says the shuttles will "connect customers with our train service at either Aldershot or Burlington GO. Lakeshore West." Additionally, riders should expect some "some additional crowding."
A post on the Facebook page on Tuesday morning said the group started the day by burning an injunction delivered by CN Rail.
"Remember why we're out here; the violence the state has perpetrated towards Indigenous land defenders and their supporters, the forced removal and criminalization of indigenous people from their lands. This is a pattern that has existed since settlers came to Turtle Island and that continue to exist today," reads the post.
"It's time to stop this, and appealing to government, writing letters, holding rallies, and even exhausting legal means has not and is not working, so disruption is what we must turn to. And it is effective, is having very real impact, and has the potential to make change."
"We're not leaving as long as it's possible to be here," said the group in its latest post.
