Chris Herhalt and Codi Wilson, CP24.com
Published Tuesday, February 25, 2020 5:42AM EST
Last Updated Tuesday, February 25, 2020 12:05PM EST
Protesters are continuing to block rail traffic on the CN tracks between Hamilton and Aldershot, a move which caused significant disruptions to GO train service this morning.
Metrolinx was forced to cancel some trains along the route and replace them with shuttle buses this morning as a result of the blockade.
Metrolinx spokesperson Scott Money also warned of crowding on remaining trains along the route on the Lakeshore West Line on Tuesday morning.
“Anyone who takes the GO train from west of Burlington will definitely feel the impact this morning,” he told CP24.
The protesters, who have been on the tracks since Monday night, have formed the blockade in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia and their supporters, who oppose a natural gas pipeline under construction on their territory.
Money said he does not know when police, who were waiting on either side of the strip of small campfires stretched along the rails Tuesday morning, will move in to clear the tracks.
Police say the protesters have been served with an injunction by CN Rail.
“This is a fluid situation. We will continue to monitor their actions,” Hamilton police Const. Jerome Stewart told reporters on Tuesday morning. “What is important here is we will continue to maintain a safe environment.”
He noted that because an injunction has been served, no one else will be allowed down to the blockade.
Yesterday, CN Rail police and OPP officers forcibly removed demonstrators from the rail line in Tyendinaga Mohawk territory near Belleville, ending a 19-day-long blockade of all freight and passenger rail traffic.
Stewart would not say if Hamilton police have any plans to forcibly remove protesters from the tracks.
“Of course we are encouraging them to leave the area peacefully,” Stewart said. “We do have officers on scene and officers in the immediate area prepared to respond if needed.”
